The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Hosts No. 15 Georgia Sunday Afternoon
1/20/2012 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 20, 2012
Ole Miss (12-7, 2-4 SEC) vs. No. 15 Georgia (15-4, 4-2 SEC)
Date: January 22, 2012
Time: 2:05 p.m. CT
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Arena: Tad Smith Coliseum
Radio: Q93.7 & 105.5 (Graham Doty)
Gametracker: OleMissSports.com
Television: CSS/ESPN3
Matt Stewart PxP, Robin Muller, Talent
Series vs. Georgia: UGA leads, 27-17
PROMOTIONS
Every home game: Chevron $50 gas card giveaway
Drills and Skills Hoop package for kids
Renaissance Bank Cash Cube
They are all "Enter to Win" and you must be present to participate.
Sunday: "We Back Pat" Game - 100 percent of Ole Miss' ticket revenue will be donated to the Pat Summitt Foundation. Ole Miss table and stat crew will wear "We Back Pat" t-shirts and the coaching staff will wear purple.
"Take a Kid to the Game Day" -Meet the Ole Miss Softball Team pre-game for autographed posters.
• All school-aged kids will receive complimentary admission.
• The first 250 Kids will receive a FREE toy basketball game.
• Rebel Kids Club pizza party pre-game.
• Ole Miss Softball pitching demo at the half.
• Rebel will be in the concourse pre-game for photos with fans.
QUICK HITS
- Ole Miss fell to 12-7 overall (2-4 SEC) this season after falling at home to Mississippi State, 51-46, Thursday night.
- Senior Nikki Byrd (13.7 ppg) and sophomore Valencia McFarland (13.7 ppg) lead Ole Miss in scoring.
- Byrd recorded her 17th career double-double (and 12th this season) against Mississippi State with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Byrd recorded five consecutive double-doubles from Nov. 18 to Dec. 12. She is the first player in the SEC this season to record double-digit double-doubles.
- Ole Miss' game against No. 15 Georgia Sunday marks the team's third game this season against a top-25 team (Miami, Vanderbilt and Georgia).
- Byrd (10.2 rpg) and freshman Danielle McCray (4.0 rpg) lead the team in rebounding.
- McFarland posted a career-high 25 points at Alabama while senior Whitney Hameth tied her career-high with 15.
- Head coach Renee Ladner is in her fifth season at the helm. She has a career record of 70-72 overall and 23-43 in SEC play.
REBELS HOST LADY BULLDOGS
Ole Miss will try to get back on the winning track when the team hosts No. 15 Georgia Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. The game will be televised on CSS and ESPN3. The Rebels (12-7 overall, 2-4 SEC) are 8-4 at home this season and 4-3 on the road. With 10 regular-season games remaining, the Rebels have won more games this season (12) than they did all of 2010-11 (10).
ABOUT OLE MISS
Ole Miss is 12-7 overall this season and 2-4 in SEC play after falling to Mississippi State 51-46 at home Thursday night. The Rebels are led by Nikki Byrd (13.7 ppg, 10.2 rpg) and Valencia McFarland (13.7 ppg, 107 assists). Freshman Danielle McCray is second on the team in rebounding, averaging 4.0 rebounds per game. Head coach Renee Ladner is in her fifth season at the helm.
OLE MISS VS. GEORGIA
Georgia leads the all-time series, 27-11. The Lady Bulldogs won last year's meeting, 61-56 in Oxford, but Ole Miss has won two of the last three games. In Oxford, the all-time series is tied at 7-7. Ole Miss' last win over Georgia was a 66-65 win over the Lady Bulldogs in Athens on January 24, 2010.
A LOOK AT GEORGIA
Georgia is 15-4 overall and 4-2 in SEC play. The Lady Bulldogs are ranked 15th in the AP Poll this week and 14th in the Coaches Poll. Georgia is coming off a 69-64 loss to No. 6 Kentucky at home. The Lady Bulldogs are led by Jasmine Hassell who averages 13.3 points per game and Khaalidah Miller who also averages 13.3 points per game. Hassell also leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.0 rebounds per game. As a team, Georgia averages 70.7 points per game while holding its opponents to 56.5.
NEWS AND NOTES
Nine of Ole Miss' game this season have been decided by nine points or less ... The Rebels won back-to-back SEC games for the first time since January of 2010 when the team won five straight conference games ... Ole Miss' 14-point margin of victory at Alabama marked the Rebels' biggest margin of victory over and SEC opponent since January 21, 2010 when Ole Miss beat Mississippi State, 66-58 ... Ole Miss recorded 20 assists on 22 field goals in its win over Arkansas ... With 11 regular-season games remaining, Ole Miss has posted 12 wins to date, surpassing the win total from the 2010-11 season (10 games) ... Four times this season, Ole Miss has held its opponent to under 68 points but lost the game (at Lamar, Florida, at Vanderbilt and Mississippi State) ... One opposing team this season has shot over 50 percent from the floor against Ole Miss (LSU, 55.2%) ... This season the Rebels have had two winning streaks of four or more games - a five-game winning streak from 11/18-12/3 and a four-game winning streak from 12/16-12/29 ... Ole Miss shot a season-best 57.1 percent from the floor (32-56) in a win over Cleveland State ... ... The Rebels scored a season-high 41 points in the second half at Lipscomb while holding the Bisons to 18 points in the second half ... Ole Miss' game against Central Michigan marked the first time this season the Rebels led at the half but lost the game ... Prior to the Central Michigan game this year where Ole Miss allowed 61 boards, the Rebels hadn't allowed 60+ rebounds since 2003 ... Nikki Byrd has scored a team-high 26 points this season while also recording a team-high 17 rebounds ... Ole Miss held South Alabama without a player scoring in double figures marking the first time since November 19, 2006 that the Rebels did not allow a player on an opposing team to score in double figures.
BYRD RANKED SECOND IN THE NATION IN DOUBLE-DOUBLES
In the latest NCAA stats released January 20, senior forward Nikki Byrd second in the nation in double-doubles with 12. She is also 23rd in the nation in rebounding, averaging 10.2 rebounds per game. The NCAA stats will be released again on Monday, January, 23. Byrd has been ranked as high as fourth in the nation in rebounding this season.
BYRD RECORDS 17TH CAREER DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Senior Nikki Byrd recorded her 17th career double-double in a loss to Mississippi State with 12 points and 14 rebounds. It is her 12th double-double of the season. From Nov. 18 to Dec. 3, Byrd recorded five consecutive double-doubles to become the first player to record five consecutive double-doubles since Armintie Price in 2007.
With her 12th double-double of the year, Byrd becomes the first player since Armintie Price in 2006-07 to record at least 10 double-double in a season. Byrd is also the first player in the SEC this year to record double-digit double-doubles.
"WE BACK PAT" WEEK JANUARY 15-22
The Southeastern Conference in cooperation with its 12-member institutions announces "We Back Pat" Week, a week-long initiative focused on bringing awareness and recognition to the Pat Summitt Foundation Fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and its fight against Alzheimer's disease.
During the week of January 15-22, SEC member institutions will support the Pat Summitt Foundation Fund during their home basketball games. Ole Miss' "We Back Pat" game is Sunday, January 22 vs. Georgia at 2 p.m. (CSS). 100% of Ole Miss' ticket revenue from the game will go to the Pat Summitt Foundation as will the women's basketball team's charity funds from this year. The Rebels will year "We Back Pat" shooting shirts and the stat and table crew will wear "We Back Pat" T-shirts.
CAREER NUMBERS WATCH
Senior forward Nikki Byrd is on pace to score over 900 career points and grab over 700 career rebounds. To date, she has recorded 768 career points (261 this year) and 604 career rebounds (192 this year). Byrd is averaging 13.7 points per game and 10.2 rebounds per game this season.
Sophomore point guard Valencia McFarland is on pace to end her sophomore year with a total of over 750 career points and over 280 career assists. McFarland has recorded 631 career points (260 this year) and 230 career assists (107 this year). This season, she is averaging 13.7 points per game and 5.6 assists per game.
MCFARLAND RECORDS EIGHTH CAREER 20-POINT GAME
Sophomore Valencia McFarland recorded her eighth career 20-point game with a career-high 25 points in a win over Alabama. Earlier this season she scored 24 points against Central Michigan, added 23 in a win over Lipscomb and scored 20 in a win over Grambling State. McFarland recorded four 20-point games last season.
MCFARLAND RANKED IN THE TOP-20 NATIONALLY IN ASSISTS
In the latest NCAA stats released January 20, point guard Valencia McFarland is 20th nationally in assists, averaging 5.6 assists per game. She is also 29th in assist to turnover ratio (1.98).
