The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Test No. 12 LSU Sunday In Oxford
1/15/2010 | Women's Basketball
Ole Miss (11-5, 2-1 SEC) vs. #12/15 LSU (13-2, 2-1 SEC)
Sunday 1.17.10 | 2:00 p.m. CT
Oxford, Miss. | Tad Smith Coliseum (9,061)
MEDIA
Live TV: CSS (Matt Stewart, play-by-play; Joe Ciampi, analyst)
Live Stats: OleMissSports.com
Live Radio: RebelVision (Gary Darby, play-by-play; Alliesha Easley, analyst)
OXFORD, Miss. - In search of its third straight Southeastern Conference victory, the Ole Miss women's basketball team welcomes No. 12 LSU to Tad Smith Coliseum Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.
Ole Miss (11-5, 2-1 SEC) enters the weekend coming off an 86-71 victory over Arkansas Jan. 10 to improve to 13-0 all-time against the Razorbacks in Oxford. All-SEC guard Bianca Thomas scored a game-high 26 points and pulled down seven rebounds for her fourth consecutive game with at least 20 points.
Thomas also upped her total career points to 1,188 to move into 16th place on Ole Miss' all-time scoring list. She is just three points shy of passing Becky Myatt for 15th place.
Kayla Melson finished with 12 points and 10 assists for her second double-double of the season, while Elizabeth Robertson added 13 points and seven rebounds.
Thomas continues to be the offensive catalyst for the Rebels and enters the weekend first in the SEC and eighth in the nation with 21.7 points per game. The Henderson, Tenn., native is also second in the conference and fourth in the nation with 3.6 three-pointers per game. In addition, she stands second in the league with by shooting 84.5 percent from the free throw line.
Melson ranks second on the team with 12.8 points per game and has scored in double figures in six straight games. She also paces the conference and stands 15th in the nation with 6.1 assists per game.
Shantell Black pours in double figures for the Rebels and averages 10.4 points per game to go along with 76 assists. Black ranks third in the conference with 4.8 helpers per game.
LSU enters the weekend with a 13-2 overall record and a 2-1 mark inside the SEC. Like Ole Miss, the Lady Tigers enjoyed a week off from competition and have not played a game since last Sunday's 64-62 home loss in overtime to Auburn. The loss snapped LSU's four-game winning streak.
The Lady Tiger's only other loss came in the form of a 77-63 setback at No. 9 Nebraska on Dec. 20. LSU owns one of the best defenses in the nation and holds its opponents to just 47.3 points per game. That figure ranks first in the SEC and second in the nation, trailing only Connecticut's 44.7 points per game allowed. The Lady Tigers are also winning by an average of 24.3 points per game and rank first in the SEC and seventh in the nation in that category.
Individually, senior guard Allison Hightower leads the team with 16.3 points per game and ranks fifth in the conference in scoring. Hightower is also third in the league with 2.6 steals per game, helping the Lady Tigers rank second in the SEC in steals per game with 10.7. Sophomore forward LaSondra Barrett is second on the team with 11.4 points per game and leads the Lady Tigers with 6.2 rebounds per game. Barrett enters the weekend ranked 19th in the SEC in rebounding.
Ole Miss and LSU will be meeting for the 45th time when the two teams tip-off Sunday afternoon. The Lady Tigers own a 25-19 overall record in the all-time series with Ole Miss that dates back to the 1977-78 season. The Lady Tigers have enjoyed a great deal of success against the Rebels in recent years. In fact, LSU has won 15 of the last 16 meetings between the two and has won four straight overall.
Ole Miss' most recent win over LSU came when the Rebels upset the No. 5 Lady Tigers 77-74 in Oxford on Jan. 11, 2007. The Rebels are 11-9 against LSU all-time in games played in Oxford, but the Lady Tigers have won five of the last six contests inside Tad Smith Coliseum.
Prior to the game with the Lady Tigers, Rebel fans will have thier first opportunity to meet and greet the Ole Miss Rebel softball team as Missy Dickerson's squad will sign autographs and pass out team posters to fans before the game.
The team will begin signing autographs in the coliseum concourse beginning at 1 p.m. In addition, fans will also be treated to free ice cream sundaes
