The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Defeat Arkansas-Pine Bluff 98-56
11/20/2009 | Women's Basketball
OXFORD, Miss. - All-SEC guard Bianca Thomas tied a career-high with 31 points and hit six three-pointers as Ole Miss improved to 3-0 with a 98-56 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff Friday afternoon in the team's annual School Day Game from Tad Smith Coliseum.
Thomas' six triples is tied for the fourth-most in school history and is the third time in her career she has hit at least six three-pointers. In fact, Thomas tied the school record for the most three-pointers in a game after hitting seven last season at Mississippi State.
Shantell Black finished with 16 points, a game-high nine assists and three rebounds, which included a deep three-pointer at the end of the first half to beat the buzzer. Kayla Melson added 13 points and eight assists and has now scored in double figures in each of the first three games. She has also tallied at least eight assists in every game this season and leads the SEC with 9.3 assists per game.
As a team, Ole Miss finished with 26 assists and has posted at least 24 helpers in every game thus far this season. Nine of the 11 Ole Miss players tallied at least one assist.
Sophomore Nikki Byrd collected 13 points and grabbed four rebounds and helped the Rebels hold a 36-12 advantage in points in the paint.
"I thought it was another great team effort and an opportunity for a lot of people to play and see where they are right now," Ole Miss head coach Renee Ladner said. "I thought my point guards handled the ball very well and had very few turnovers, and I hope this is a confidence builder for my entire team."
Arkansas-Pine Bluff guard Amanda Hammond paced the Golden Lions with 15 points and three assists, while both Rekevia Brown and Tashayla Jackson finished with 10 points apiece.
Ole Miss (3-0) built an 18-2 lead over the first five minutes of the game and capitalized on six Arkansas-Pine Bluff turnovers during the stretch. The Golden Lions committed 26 turnovers in the game and allowed the Rebels to turn those miscues into 40 points.
The Rebels held Arkansas-Pine Bluff under 10 points for the first 13 minutes of the half and limited the Golden Lions to just eight field goals in the opening stanza.
Brown hit her second three-pointer of the first half to cut the Ole Miss lead to 16 points with 2:39 remaining, but the Rebels closed the half with a 10-0 run to up their lead to 27 points heading into halftime.
Ole Miss continued to pull away in the second half and would go on to lead by as many as 48 points. In their three wins this season, the Rebels are posting an average margin of victory of 38 points.
The Rebels return to action Tuesday at noon when Ole Miss travels to Tucson, Ariz., to take on the Arizona Wildcats in the first meeting between the two schools since the 1989-90 season.
