The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Head South To LSU Sunday
2/6/2010 | Women's Basketball
Ole Miss (14-8, 5-4 SEC) vs. No. 19/21 LSU (15-6, 4-5 SEC)
Sunday 2.7.10 | 1:00 p.m. CT
Baton Rouge, La. | Pete Maravich Assembly Center (13,468)
MEDIA
Live TV: SEC Network (Cara Capuano, play-by-play; LaChina Robinson, analyst)
Live Stats: OleMissSports.com
Live Radio: RebelVision (Gary Darby, play-by-play; Alliesha Easley, analyst)
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss women's basketball team returns to the road Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. when the Rebels head South to battle No. 19/21 LSU from the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Ole Miss (14-8, 5-4 SEC) enters the weekend coming off a road setback Thursday night against No. 18 Kentucky. Junior guard Kayla Melson scored a team-high 20 points, marking the second straight game she has finished with 20 points.
All-SEC guard Bianca Thomas added 17 points and connected for three 3-pointers to increase her season total to 73. She enters Sunday's game at LSU needing one more three-pointer to set a new single season record at Ole Miss. Thomas set the current school record last season as a junior with 73.
Thomas also stands as the league's leading scorer at 20.9 points per game, which also ranks her 11th in the nation. The Henderson, Tenn., native averages 3.3 three-pointers per game and is second in the SEC and seventh in the nation.
Melson pours in 13.4 points per game for the Rebels and is second on the team and 11th in the SEC. The Montgomery, Ala., native is also first in the league and 12th in the country with 6.2 assists per game.
Shantell Black also scores in double figures for Ole Miss and adds 10.0 points per game. Black is also fourth in the conference with 4.5 assists per game.
LSU enters the weekend having lost three of its last four games following its 49-46 overtime setback Thursday night at Georgia. The Lady Tigers are now 15-6 overall and 4-5 in the league and sit in ninth place in the conference standings.
LSU is also just 1-3 at home this season in conference games and has lost its last two. The Lady Tigers only home SEC win came Jan. 21 when they defeated South Carolina 69-52.
As a team, LSU is first in the SEC and third in the nation by limiting its opponents to just 50.3 points per game. The Lady Tigers have held their last two opponents to fewer than 50 points.
Individually, the Lady Tigers are led on offense by senior Allison Hightower. Hightower ranks fifth in the SEC with 17.3 points per game. Sophomore post LaSondra Barrett is second on the team and 16th in the league with 12.5 points per game. Barrett is also first on the team and 16th in the SEC with 6.7 rebounds per game.
Ole Miss and LSU will be meeting for the 46th time when the two teams tip-off Sunday afternoon. The Lady Tigers own a 25-20 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 17 meetings between the two and four of the last five.
Earlier this season, Ole Miss snapped a four-game losing streak to the Lady Tigers with an 80-71 win Jan. 17 in Oxford. Thomas scored a Tad Smith Coliseum record 42 points to help Ole Miss pull the upset.
LSU leads the all-time series with Ole Miss 11-8 in games played in Baton Rouge. In fact, the Rebels will be looking for their first win in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center since Feb. 19, 1994, when Ole Miss claimed a 68-60 win over the Lady Tigers.
The Rebels will also be looking to defeat LSU twice in the same season for the first time since accomplishing the feat during the 1984-85 season.
