The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Carry Momentum into Year Two of Insell Era
11/4/2014 | Women's Basketball
OXFORD, Miss. - Last year, head coach Matt Insell introduced a high-pressure, up-tempo style of play, and bolstered by an influx of talent and athleticism, he wants to take it to another level in year two.
Insell envisions a 10-man or 11-man rotation and a style of play similar not only to how they played at Kentucky, where he was an assistant coach, but also the "Havoc" style of play that has helped the Virginia Commonwealth men's program to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances and a Final Four appearance in 2010-11.
"I have watched a lot of film of VCU's men's program, and I have talked to several of their coaches about different things they do," Insell said. "We want to try to take our game to that level, where every night, you know when you play Ole Miss, you better bring it because we're going press you for 94 feet and then we're going to run it right back at you."
The Rebels lost four-year Valencia McFarland, who's now playing professionally in Romania, but they return senior forward Tia Faleru, the Southeastern Conference's top returning scorer (16.4 ppg) and rebounder (9.4 rpg).
"She has improved in the mental aspect of the game, how she approaches practice and how she approaches film session," said Insell of Faleru. "She had a great year, but I told her she had to learn how to approach the game mentally and learn more about the game, and she's done that. She's starting to see different things about her game and how people are guarding her."
Two other returnees, junior guard Gracie Frizzell and forward sophomore Shequila Joseph, Insell said, have worked harder than anyone on the roster in developing their games in other areas, having both been primarily known as perimeter players.
"We're a lot deeper this year," Frizzell said. "Last year, coach said we had about seven or eight girls who made a difference in our team. This year, he's looking at about 10 girls to play. We're a lot deeper, and that going to help with the speed of our game. It's going to be really good for us."
The six returnees from last year's are joined by eight newcomers, including six freshmen, many of whom are expected to start or see significant action this season.
Freshmen Toree Thompson (Broken Arrow, Oklahoma) and A'Queen Hayes (Horn Lake, Mississippi) are being counted on to help replace Valencia McFarland at the point guard position.
"We lost Valencia and we have a lot of new freshmen, but the point guards this year, Toree Thompson and A'Queen Hayes, have really stepped up and are doing a good job," Frizzell said. "They're not playing like freshmen, but playing like sophomores."
Insell also noted the athleticism and offensive ability of freshman Shandricka Sessom (Byhalia, Mississippi) on the wing and the instant impact of Murray State transfer Erika Sisk (Oxford, Mississippi), who was OVC Freshman of the Year in 2013.
"Erika Sisk is a game-changer, defensively," Insell said. "I didn't know that about her when I first got her. A lot of people talked about how she could score, and she's had a lot of success scoring against teams in this league. She had a 30-plus point game against Missouri, and we didn't have anybody who scored 30 against Missouri. A lot of people told me how she could score, which she can, but I learned she can change the game defensively with her athleticism."
Despite a 12-20 record, the Rebels played some of their best basketball at the end of last year, winning two of their last three games, including a 73-71 overtime win over Auburn in the regular-season finale and a thrilling 63-62 win over Arkansas in the first round of the SEC Tournament.
"We were playing really well at the end of last year," Insell said. "We went back this offseason, with our present team, and showed them six or seven games where we had chances to win those games in the last minute and what went wrong. We're going to try to fix what went wrong in those games. We want to take that momentum with this team and take the momentum in recruiting. Things are going well for our program. I like where we are.
"I know a lot of media picked us last in the league. We're not worried about that. We took that voting and threw it in the garbage can and burned the garbage can because we know we have a good basketball team. We know where the program is going in the future and we're really about excited about that."
