The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Face San Jose State Friday In FAU Tournament
11/26/2009 | Women's Basketball
BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Ole Miss women's basketball team looks to return to the win column and pick up its fourth victory of the season when the Rebels take on San Jose State Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. (CT) in the second game of the Florida Atlantic/Boca Bridge Hotel Holiday Tournament.
Tournament host Florida Atlantic will face Fordham in the opening game at 1 p.m. The two winning teams with meet in the championship game Saturday afternoon, while the losing teams will play in the consolation game.
Ole Miss (3-1) enters the tournament having suffered its first loss of the season Monday afternoon when the Rebels fell 65-59 at Arizona. Despite the loss, All-SEC senior guard Bianca Thomas scored a team-high 17 points, grabbed seven rebounds and hit three three-pointers to move into sole possession of third place on the school's all-time three-pointers made list.
Elizabeth Robertson also scored in double figures for the Rebels, pouring in 12 points to go along with five rebounds.
Thomas continues to pace the Rebels on the offensive end of the floor and also leads the SEC in scoring with 23.8 points per game. She is also first on the team and sixth in the conference with 8.5 rebounds per game and is tied for the tops in the league with 4.5 three-pointers per game.
Junior guard Kayla Melson ranks second on the team with 11.3 points per game and leads the SEC with 7.0 assists per game. Fellow guard Shantell Black averages 10.5 points per game and is fourth in the conference with 6.0 assists per game. Ole Miss is the only team in the SEC to have two players ranked in the top-10 in the league in assists.
San Jose State (1-3) opened the season with three consecutive losses before claiming its first win of the season Tuesday night against San Francisco. The Spartans trailed by seven points at halftime, but outscored San Francisco 41-22 in the second half en route to victory.
Spartan senior guard Chasity Shavers averages 17.0 points per game, while junior post Samantha Marez averages 10.5 points per game to lead the San Jose State offense. Senior forward Shaunna Ridge leads the Spartans with 6.3 rebounds per game.
Ole Miss and San Jose State will be meeting for just the second time when the two teams tipoff Friday afternoon. In the only previous meeting, the Rebels claimed a 77-43 victory over the Spartans on Dec. 20, 1999 in Flagstaff, Ariz., in the Hilton Garden Inn Classic.
