The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Head To Kentucky Thursday
2/3/2010 | Women's Basketball
Ole Miss (14-7, 5-3 SEC) vs. Kentucky (18-3, 6-2 SEC)
Thursday 2.4.10 | 6:00 p.m. CT
Lexington, Ky. | Memorial Coliseum (8,500)
MEDIA
Tape Delay TV: FSS (Garry Gupton, play-by-play; Christi Thomas, analyst)
Live Stats: OleMissSports.com
Live Radio: RebelVision (Gary Darby, play-by-play)
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss women's basketball team looks to snap a two-game losing streak Thursday night at 6 p.m. (CT) when the Rebels travel to Lexington, Ky., to take on No. 18 Kentucky from Memorial Coliseum.
Thursday's game will be aired on FSN South at 8 p.m. (CT).
Ole Miss (14-7, 5-3 SEC) enters the week tied for third place in the conference standings despite its loss to Florida Sunday afternoon. All-SEC guard Bianca Thomas scored a game-high 21 points and hit five three-pointers against the Gators to move into second place all-time at Ole Miss with 196 career 3-pointers.
Thomas has also connected for 70 three-pointers thus far this season and is just four shy of setting a new Ole Miss single season record. She actually set the record a season ago as a junior with 73 treys.
Junior point guard Kayla Melson scored a career-high 20 points against the Gators and is averaging 16.0 points per game over the last four games.
Elizabeth Robertson finished with 12 points on four three-pointers and is shooting 44.7 percent from beyond the arc since the start of conference play.
Offensively, Thomas ranks first in the SEC and ninth in the nation with 21.1 points per game. The Henderson, Tenn., native also leads the team with 5.6 rebounds per game. She also stands second in the SEC and seventh in the nation with 3.3 three-pointers per game.
Melson enters the week second on the team and 11th in the SEC with 13.1 points per game. She is also first in the conference and 11th in the country with 6.2 assists per game. Senior Shantell Black added 10.2 points per game and is third in the league with 4.6 assists per game.
Kentucky enters the week with an 18-3 overall record and a 6-2 mark inside the SEC. The Wildcats are currently riding a five-game winning streak and have won five consecutive conference games for the first time in school history. During the winning streak, the Wildcats have won each of the five games by at least nine points.
Overall, Kentucky is defeating its opponents by an average of 21.0 points per game, which ranks the Wildcats first in the SEC in that category. UK also paces the SEC with 12.3 steals per game.
Individually, Kentucky is led on the offensive end by junior forward Victoria Dunlap. The reigning SEC Player of the Week, Dunlap leads the Wildcats and ranks third in the SEC with 17.6 points per game. Dunlap also leads UK and ranks third in the league with 8.9 rebounds per game.
Freshman guard A'dia Mathies, who was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday, is second on the team with 11.7 points per game. Junior guard Amber Smith is third for UK and pours in 10.5 points per game and ranks eighth in the conference with 3.9 assists per game.
Ole Miss and Kentucky will be meeting for the 31st time when the two teams tip-off Thursday evening. The Rebels own a 20-10 overall record in the all-time series with Kentucky that dates back to the 1979-80 season. The Wildcats have enjoyed most of the recent success between the two teams. In fact, Kentucky has won five of the last seven meetings between the two schools.
Ole Miss, however, is 9-5 all-time in games played in Lexington. Last season, Ole Miss defeated Kentucky 69-60 behind the 24 points and eight rebounds of Thomas.
Ole Miss and Kentucky have been engaged in some close battles over the last few years. In fact, each of the last eight meetings between the two have been decided by nine points or less, including two games that went into overtime.
