OXFORD, Miss. Thirteen games against teams that reached the postseason a year ago, including four teams that reached the Sweet Sixteen or better, highlight the 2008-09 Ole Miss women’s basketball schedule head coach Renee Ladner announced Tuesday.
Overall, the Lady Rebels will take on seven teams that received invitations to the NCAA Tournament and six that were selected to participate in the WNIT following the 2007-08 regular season.
The non-conference slate features nine contests inside Tad Smith Coliseum, where the Lady Rebels have won 24 of their last 25 games against non-conference foes since the 2004-05 season.
“We are playing a very difficult non-conference schedule this season, but that is what you have to do to get ready for SEC play,” Ladner said, who is entering her second season as head coach of the Lady Rebels. “We have to be ready to play every night during the non-conference part of the schedule because any one of those teams can beat on us on any given night no matter where the game is played.”
Ole Miss opens the season on the road as the Lady Rebels will head east to Rock Hill, S.C., to take part in the Winthrop Tournament hosted by Winthrop University Nov. 15-16. The Lady Rebels are slated to take on North Carolina A&T, a team that reached the WNIT a season ago, in the first game of the tournament. Following the second game of the tournament on the 16th against either Winthrop or Davidson, Ole Miss remains on the road with a Nov. 19 contest at Louisiana-Lafayette.
The Lady Rebels next play host to Memphis Nov. 21 in the home opener from Tad Smith Coliseum to open up a five-game homestand. Ole Miss also hosts Alcorn State (Nov. 24), Nicholls State (Nov. 29), Southeastern Louisiana (Dec. 4) and NCAA Tournament participant Texas (Dec. 7) to complete the five-game stretch. Ole Miss next faces NC State on the road (Dec.14) and Arkansas-Little Rock (Dec.17) back home before taking part in two straight tournaments.
“We have a very difficult stretch in the middle of December as we play Texas and NC State in back-to-back games,” Ladner said. “Those are two of the premier women’s basketball programs in the country and we will have our work cut out for us in those two games.”
The first of two holiday tournaments is scheduled for Dec. 20-21 as the Lady Rebels will compete in the Central Florida Tournament in Orlando. Following a week off, Ole Miss will host its home tournament for the first time since the 1997-98 season when the Lady Rebels welcome Rice, UT-Martin and Northwestern State to Oxford Dec. 29-30 for the Ole Miss Holiday Classic. The Lady Rebels then put the finishing touches on the non-conference portion of the schedule Jan. 3 with a home matchup against 2008 Sweet Sixteen participant Old Dominion.
SEC play opens Jan. 8 when the Lady Rebels host Georgia from Tad Smith Coliseum to begin a challenging slate of league home games. Ole Miss will also face Alabama (Jan. 18), South Carolina (Jan. 22), Kentucky (Feb. 1), Mississippi State (Feb. 12), Vanderbilt (Feb. 22) and LSU (March 1) inside the Tad Pad.
Ole Miss opens play on the road in the league Jan. 11 as the Lady Rebels face in-state rival Mississippi State in Starkville. Ole Miss will also travel to Florida (Jan. 25), NCAA Champion Tennessee (Jan. 29), Auburn (Feb. 5), South Carolina (Feb. 8), Arkansas (Feb. 15) and Alabama (Feb. 19).
“We play in the toughest conference in the country and there is never a night off in this league,” Ladner said. “Many of the top teams in the country play in this league and we have to be up to the challenge every single night if we are to have a chance to compete. We have a great group of girls who have another year of experience under their belt and I know they can’t wait to get started.”
The SEC Tournament returns to Little Rock, Ark., for the first time since the 2005-06 season and will take place March 5-8 from the Alltel Arena.
