GAME #21: Ole Miss vs. Kentucky
February 7, 2008 6:00 p.m. CT
Lexington, Ky. Rupp Arena (23,000)
Live Stats | Live Audio
OXFORD, Miss. On the heels of a convincing victory over Alabama over the weekend, the Ole Miss women’s basketball team looks for its second consecutive win when the Lady Rebels head north to take on Kentucky Thursday evening at 6:00 p.m. from historic Rupp Arena.
Veteran sportscaster Dave Neal and Debbie Antonelli are scheduled to handle the play-by-play and color duties, respectively, for Thursday’s FSN South coverage of the Ole Miss-Kentucky contest. The game is also scheduled to be aired on Q93.7 FM with Ronnie Williams calling the action.
Ole Miss (9-11, 3-4 SEC) used a stingy defense to force Alabama into 28 turnovers, including a season-high 17 steals for the Lady Rebels en route to a 76-47 victory over the Crimson Tide. With the win, Ole Miss has held Alabama under 50 points in the last three meetings between the two schools. Lady Rebel senior forward Carla Bartee led the way against Alabama as she recorded her fifth double-double of the season with a game-high 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Individually, junior center Shawn Goff enters play Thursday first on the team and 10th in the conference by averaging 13.2 points per game. Goff is also second on the Lady Rebels and 10th in the SEC with 7.5 rebounds per game. In addition, the Tallahassee, Fla., native is first in the SEC with 2.35 blocks per game and needs just three more swats to tie Amber Watts for fifth all-time on the school’s single season blocked shots list with 50. Bartee paces the team and ranks eighth in the SEC with 8.4 rebounds per game, while sophomore guard Shantell Black is first on the team and in the SEC with 5.55 assists per game.
Much like the season Ole Miss has had thus far this season, Kentucky battled through a tough non-conference schedule before turning it up a notch in conference play. The Wildcats were 6- 8 during the non-conference portion of the schedule. Since that time, however, Kentucky has gone 5-3 in SEC play to run its record to an even 11-11. The Lady Rebels were 6-7 in the non-conference schedule, but have a respectable 3-4 mark in the SEC and have improved their overall record to 9-11 entering Thursday’s game at Kentucky.
The Wildcats enter Thursday having lost two of their last three games, all of which coming against Top 25 teams. In their last home game, the Wildcats dropped a 72-46 decision to No. 9 LSU before upsetting No. 17/14 Georgia 47-44 in Athens. Most recently, Kentucky lost 79-51 Sunday afternoon at second-ranked Tennessee.
Kentucky features a pair of players who average in double figures. Senior guard Samantha Mahoney leads the team with 13.9 points per game, while senior center Sarah Elliott is second on the team with 11.0 points per game to go along with a team-leading 6.4 rebounds per game. The Wildcats were dealt a crushing blow this week when freshman guard Amber Smith was lost for the season with an ACL injury, marking another comparison with the Ole Miss Lady Rebels. Earlier this season, Ole Miss lost sophomore guard Alliesha Easley for the season with an ACL injury she suffered in the first game of the season at Nebraska.
Thursday night’s game between Kentucky and Ole Miss will feature a pair of head coaches that used to roam the sidelines together just a few years ago. Lady Rebel head coach Renee Ladner and Kentucky head coach Matthew Mitchell were both assistant coaches at the University of Florida during the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons under former Ole Miss head coach Carol Ross. Ladner would go on to accompany Ross to Ole Miss prior to the 2003-04 season as an assistant coach, before accepting the head coaching position at her alma mater prior to the beginning of this season. Both Ladner and Mitchell are in their first-year as head coach at their respective schools.
Ole Miss owns a 19-9 overall record in the all-time series with Kentucky that dates back to the 1979-80 season. In addition, the Lady Rebels are 9-4 all-time against Kentucky when playing in Lexington. Despite the impressive all-time record over UK, Ole Miss has struggled with the Wildcats in recent years as the Lady Rebels are just 1-4 in the last five meetings. Last season, Ole Miss and Kentucky met twice in the regular season with each team winning on the other team’s home floor. The Lady Rebels won the first meeting 67-65 in overtime as current Ole Miss forward Carla Bartee scored six points in the extra session. In the second meeting in Oxford, Kentucky received a double-double from Sarah Elliott en route to a 69-61 victory.
