The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Host SEMO in Tuesday Afternoon Contest
11/24/2014 | Women's Basketball
Game Notes- Southeast Missouri State - Game 5
Ole Miss closes out its season-opening five game homestand on Tuesday when it welcomes Southeast Missouri to Oxford for an afternoon matinee. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. at Tad Smith Coliseum.
Game 5: Ole Miss (3-1) vs. Southeast Missouri (1-2)
Date: November 25, 2014
Location: Oxford, Miss (Tad Smith Coliseum)
Series: Ole Miss leads, 2-0
Streak: Ole Miss has won the previous two meetings
| SECN+ Link | Game Notes (PDF)
Starting Five
1. Ole Miss dropped its first game of the season on Sunday when it fell to Middle Tennessee, 71-65. The loss moved Ole Miss to 3-1 and was the Rebels first home loss in its last five games dating back to last season. Additionally, it gave Middle Tennessee head coach Rock Insell, father of Ole Miss head coach Matt Insell, his first win over his son as a head coach.
2. Erika Sisk posted her first 20-point game of the season and first in an Ole Miss uniform with 20 points against Middle Tennessee. With Sisk's 20 points, the Rebels have had a 20-point scorer in each game this season. Tia Faleru has scored 20+ twice this season, while Shandricka Sessom and Sisk have each reached the milestone once. Sessom is the lone freshman to reach the mark.
3. The Rebels will close out a season-opening five game homestand in Tuesday's contest with Southeast Missouri. Ole Miss last opened a season with five straight home games in 2012-13 going, 5-0 before dropping its first contest. This is the longest season-opening homestand in the Insell era.
4. For just the second time this season, Ole Miss was held without a double-figure rebounder against Middle Tennessee. Leading rebounder, Tia Faleru was held to just nine rebounds, one shy of her third double-digit rebounding game of the season. Faleru currently leads the SEC in rebounding with 13.3 rebounds per game, 3.3 rebounds per game more than Tennessee's Bashaara Graves.
5. The Ole Miss freshman are growing each day. Toree Thompson and Shandricka Sessom, who have started each game this season, are leading the way. Thompson is Ole Miss' third leading scorer with 8.3 points per game, while Sessom is averaging 6.3 points per game. Additionally, A'Queen Hayes, is leading the squad in assists with 3.0 per game.
Ole Miss vs. Southeast Missouri Notables
-This will be the third meeting between the two squads and the first since the 2011-12 season when the Rebels traveled to Cape Girardeau. This will be the second meeting between the two teams in Oxford.
-Ole Miss doesn't have any players from Missouri and Southeast Missouri doesn't have any players from Mississippi, but the Redhawks do have some players from nearby Tennessee including a player from Memphis who played at Overton, which is the same high school as Ole Miss' Kelsey Briggs.
-The Redhawks will be the first opponent for Ole Miss from the Ohio Valley this season. Ole Miss is 35-5 all-time against foes from the Ohio Valley. Last season, Ole Miss took on three opponents from the OVC going 3-0.
A Win Would...
-Move the Rebels to 3-1 this season and move Ole Miss to 36-5 all-time against teams from the Ohio Valley, including 4-0 in the Matt Insell era.
-Give Ole Miss 392 wins at Tad Smith Coliseum and move the Rebels eight wins from win No. 400. Should the Rebels remain undefeated at home, Ole Miss would have a chance for win No. 400 on Jan. 15 vs. Georgia.
Rebels By The Numbers
22.5-Number of points Tia Faleru is averaging through four games this season. Faleru entered the 2014-15 season as the SEC's top returning scorer (16.4 ppg) and rebounder (9.4 rpg) and currently leads the league in both categories. She is also averaging a double-double with 22.5 points per game and 13.3 rebounds per game.
84.8-Number of points Ole Miss is averaging through four games. Ole Miss has topped 90 points on three occasions this season. Last season, Ole Miss topped 90 points just twice all season.
20-Number of points Oxford native Erika Sisk scored against Middle Tennessee. It was her first 20-point outing of the season and the first for Sisk in an Ole Miss uniform. For her career she's scored 20+ on seven occasions, including six times while at Murray State.
46-Number of turnovers Ole Miss forced against Mississippi Valley State. The 46 turnovers are the most since the Rebels forced 42 in a win over Alabama during the 2006-07 season. The 46 turnovers are thought to be a single-game record.
391-Number of wins Ole Miss has at the Tad Pad entering the 2014-15 season. Ole Miss needs just nine more home wins to reach 400 wins in its 41-year history at the Tad Smith Coliseum.
Scouting Southeast Missouri
Southeast Missouri enters Tuesday's contest with a 1-2 record after dropping a 74-56 contest to Saint Louis on Friday (Nov. 21). The Redhawks are led by Olivia Hackmann who is averaging 10.7 points to lead the offense, while Erin Bollman leads the rebounding efforts with 7.3 rebounds per game. As a team, Southeast Missouri is averaging 54.7 points and 42.7 rebounds. The Redhawks and Rebels have several opponents in common as SEMO has taken on fellow SEC member, Mizzou, dropping the contest 88-42. The Redhawks also have a win over Alabama A&M, who Ole Miss will face in Oxford on Dec. 20 before breaking for the holidays.
About Ole Miss
Senior forward Tia Faleru continues to lead Ole Miss with 22.5 points per game and 13.13 rebounds per game. Faleru has posted double figures in each game of the 2014-15 season and has posted two games of 20 or more points already this season. Erika Sisk joins Faleru in double figures with 11.3 points per game after a season-high 20 against Middle Tennessee State. The rest of the scoresheet is balanced as Ole Miss has seven players averaging six or more points. Toree Thompson is averaging 8.3 points per game while Danielle McCray is pulling down 7.5 points per game. After Faleru's 13.3 rebounds, McCray is the next leading rebounder at 5.5 rebounds per game.
On Tap
The Rebels will head to Reno, Nevada for the Nugget Classic hosted by Nevada. Ole Miss will take on Utah in the opening round on Friday, Nov. 28 and will face either Nevada or Portland for the championship or consolation on Satuday Nov. 29.
