Rebels Face South Carolina Sunday On FSS

GAME 24: Ole Miss (14-9, 3-5) vs. South Carolina (9-12, 1-7)
Sunday 02.08.09 | 2 p.m. CT
Columbia, S.C. | Colonial Life Arena (18,000)

MEDIA
Live TV: FSS (Dave Neal, play-by-play; Teresa Edwards, analyst); ESPN360
Live Radio: (Gary Darby, play-by-play) Listen Online through RebelVision
Live Stats: OleMissSports.com

OXFORD, Miss. The Ole Miss women’s basketball team takes on South Carolina for this second time this season when the Rebels travel to Columbia for a 2 p.m. (CT) contest Sunday afternoon from Colonial Life Arena.  

Earlier this season, Ole Miss dropped a 76-67 decision to the Gamecocks inside Tad Smith Coliseum.  Despite the setback, Rebel junior guard Shantell Black scored a career-high 22 points to go along with five rebounds, five assists and four steals. 

Ole Miss (14-9, 3-5 SEC) enters the weekend coming off a 72-65 loss Thursday night at fifth-ranked Auburn.  Senior Shawn Goff finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and a game-high three blocked shots to become the school’s all-time leading shot blocker.  Goff upped her career total to 195 rejections to surpass the 194 blocked shots Eugenia Conner collected from 1981-85. 

Junior Bianca Thomas led all scorers Thursday night with a career-high 28 points, including 21 points in the second half.  It was the fifth time this season that Thomas has scored 20 or more points, and is one of only five players in the SEC to hold that distinction. 

Thomas upped her season scoring average to 14.7 points per game and ranks first on the team and third in the SEC in that category.  Since the start of conference play, Thomas is averaging 18.1 points per game.  She is also second in the SEC and 27th in the nation with an 86.1 shooting percentage from the free throw line. 

Goff is second on the team and ninth in the SEC with 13.5 points per game to form the only duo in the SEC from the same school to rank in the top-10 in the league in scoring.  In addition, she is first on the Rebels and 16th in the league with 5.9 rebounds per game.  Goff also is second in the SEC and 26th in the country with 2.4 blocked shots per game. 

South Carolina (9-12, 1-7 SEC) enters the weekend riding a three-game losing streak after falling 61-47 Thursday night at Kentucky.  In addition, South Carolina has lost four straight home games and has not recorded a home win in all of 2009.  South Carolina’s last home victory came Dec. 30 when the Gamecocks defeated Jacksonville 58-50.  Overall, South Carolina is 5-7 at home this year. 

The Gamecocks have been depleted by injuries this season and are expected to be without their top two scorers Sunday.  Brionna Dickerson, who leads the team with 13.4 points per game, has missed the last two games due to injury, and Demetress Adams is out for the season after suffering an injury in the first meeting with Ole Miss.  Adams was second on the team with 10.7 points per game and first on the team with 7.2 rebounds per game.  Should Dickerson not play Sunday, freshman guard Lakeisha Sutton would lead the team in scoring with 10.4 points per game.  Senior forward C.J. Pace leads South Carolina with 5.8 rebounds per game. 

As a team, the Gamecocks average only 58.9 points per game and are outscored by their opponents by 3.7 points per game. In fact, South Carolina is the only school in the SEC to have a negative scoring margin. The Gamecocks have scored over 60 points in only eight of their 21 games thus far this season. South Carolina also leads the league with 19.8 turnovers per game.

Ole Miss and South Carolina will meet for the 27th time and the second time this season when the two teams tip-off Sunday afternoon from Columbia.  Ole Miss owns a 15-11 overall record in the all-time series that dates back to the 1978-79 season.  In addition, the Rebels have won five of the last eight meetings between the two.  Ole Miss will be searching for its first win in Columbia since beating the Gamecocks 71-65 in 2004.  Overall, the Rebels are 3-7 all-time against the Gamecocks in Columbia. 

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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