GAME 22: Ole Miss (13-8, 2-4) vs. Kentucky (12-9, 2-4)
Sunday 02.01.09 | 2 p.m. CT
Oxford, Miss. | Tad Smith Coliseum (9,061) MEDIA
Live Radio: (Gary Darby, play-by-play) Listen Online through RebelVision
Live Stats: OleMissSports.com
OXFORD, Miss. After two straight games road games, the Ole Miss women’s basketball team returns home to host Kentucky Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. from Tad Smith Coliseum for this year’s “Pack the Tad Pad” game.
In an effort to increase attendance at women’s basketball games across the country, the NCAA instituted an annual “Pack the House” promotion last year that drew more than 592,000 fans to arenas around the nation.
One winner from each of the 31 conferences and one from a group of independent institutions will be named. Selections are based on marketing plan creativity and attendance criteria. The NCAA will award prizes and donate money to the nonprofit organization of each winning institution’s choice.
In conjunction with Super Bowl Sunday, the Rebels will also collect canned soup that will be donated to the Oxford Food Pantry. Any fan that brings two or more cans of soup will be awarded with free admission to the game.
Ole Miss (13-8, 2-4 SEC) enters the weekend following a heartbreaking 60-59 loss Thursday night at No. 13 Tennessee. The Rebels led by two points with just over 20 seconds left to play only to see Angie Bjorklund hit a game-winning three-pointer. Senior Shawn Goff tallied eight points for the Rebels and became the 22nd player in school history to score 1,000 or more career points.
Junior Bianca Thomas scored a game-high 13 points for the Rebels against Tennessee and upped her season total to 13.6 points per game to pace the team. Thomas ranks seventh in the SEC in scoring and second in free throw percentage with an 86.6 shooting mark from the charity stripe. Not far behind, Goff ranks ninth in the SEC with 13.4 points per game and is second in the conference with 2.3 blocked shots per game. Thomas and Goff form the only duo in the SEC from the same school to rank in the top-10 in scoring.
Kentucky (12-9, 2-4 SEC) enters the weekend on a three-game losing streak after falling 74-59 Thursday night at Florida. Prior to that, the Wildcats dropped consecutive home games to Mississippi State and LSU. Kentucky has struggled to score points over its last three games as the Wildcats have failed to reach 60 points in each of those three games. In fact, the Wildcats rank 10th in the SEC with 63.5 points per game, and are last in the league with a 37.1 shooting percentage from the field.
Kentucky sophomore Victoria Dunlap leads the Wildcats and ranks 12th in the SEC with 12.4 points per game. Dunlap also paces the Wildcats in rebounding and ranks first in the conference with 9.0 rebounds per game. Senior Eleia Roddy is also among the league leaders in scoring and rebounding. Roddy is 18th in the SEC with 12.1 points per game and is second in the league with 8.8 rebounds per game. The duo ranks first and second in the SEC in double-doubles as Roddy enters the weekend with nine and Dunlap has currently posted eight.
Ole Miss and Kentucky will battle for the 30th time when the two teams meet Sunday afternoon. Despite falling to the Wildcats 59-54 last season in Lexington, the Rebels still hold a 19-10 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to the 1979-80 season. Kentucky, however, has had the upper hand in the series of late as the Wildcats have won five of the last six meetings, including two straight in Oxford. Ole Miss hasn’t defeated Kentucky on its home court since downing the Wildcats 90-88 in double overtime Feb. 1, 2004. Overall, Ole Miss is 9-4 all-time against Kentucky inside Tad Smith Coliseum.
