The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Open 2009-10 Season Friday Against SELA
11/12/2009 | Women's Basketball
SEASON OPENER: Ole Miss (0-0) vs. SELA (0-0)
Friday 11.13.09 | 3:30 p.m. CT
Oxford, Miss. | C.M. Tad Smith Coliseum (9,061)
MEDIA
Live Stats: OleMissSports.com
Live Radio: RebelVision (Gary Darby, play-by-play)
Live Video: RebelVision
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss women's basketball team opens the 2009-10 season Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. when the Rebels welcome Southeastern Louisiana to Tad Smith Coliseum in the first game of a doubleheader with the men's team.
Expectations are once again high in Oxford as Ole Miss returns 81.3 percent of its scoring and 85.3 percent of its rebounding from a 2008-09 team that reached the postseason for the fifth time in the last six seasons. The Rebels will also be one of the most experienced teams in the Southeastern Conference, as Ole Miss returns four starters from last season and features six seniors on this year's team.
Highlighting the list of Rebel returnees is preseason All-SEC selection Bianca Thomas. Thomas finished the season fourth in the SEC with 15.8 points per game to go along with her 5.1 boards per game. In addition, Thomas ended the season with nine games in which she scored at least 20 points, including a career-high 31 points against Arkansas in the first round of the SEC Tournament. She enters the 2009-10 season as the conference's returning leading scorer.
Thomas also proved to be one of the top shooters in the conference, finishing sixth in the SEC with a 35.3 shooting percentage from beyond the arc. Thomas tied the school record for most three-pointers in a single game with the seven she sunk at Mississippi State. She went on to set the school record for three-pointers in a season after hitting a total of 73 treys. In addition, Thomas also shot 82.5 percent from the free throw line and ranked third in the SEC in that department.
The Rebels took part in an exhibition game Nov. 5 against Division II foe Christian Brothers from Tad Smith Coliseum. Thomas scored a game-high 22 points and Ole Miss featured three players in double figures on its way to a convincing 84-22 victory over the Lady Bucs. Ole Miss caused 30 Christian Brothers turnovers and turned those miscues into 36 Rebel points and held the Lady Bucs to just 20.0 percent shooting on just nine made field goals for the entire game.
Ole Miss has enjoyed a great deal of success in its season opening games. In fact, the Rebels are 29-6 all-time in the team's first game of the year and have won six of their last seven. Last season, the Rebels knocked off North Carolina A&T 80-64 in the season opener as four Rebels scored in double figures. In addition, Ole Miss erased a seven-point halftime deficit and outscored the Aggies 53-30 in the second half en route to victory.
Ole Miss is a perfect 11-0 against Southeastern Louisiana in the all-time series that dates back to the 1978-79 season. In addition, the Rebels are 7-0 against the Lady Lions in Oxford, which includes an 85-73 win last season in the team's annual School Day Game. Since 2000, the Rebels are 3-0 against Southeastern Louisiana and have won those games by an average of 30.0 points per game, which includes a 46-point victory (92-46) during the 2006-07 season.
The Rebels are an impressive 31-6 all-time record against teams from the Southland Conference. Ole Miss has won 20 of its last 21 games against Southland Conference competition, which includes a perfect 3-0 mark during the Renee Ladner era. Ole Miss' last loss to a foe from the Southland Conference came in the form of a 66-55 setback to UT-Arlington during the 2006-07 season. The Rebels will face its second straight Southland Conference opponent Tuesday when the Rebels take on Sam Houston State in Huntsville, Texas.
