The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Hosts Arkansas in SEC Opener
1/1/2015 | Women's Basketball
Game Notes- vs. Arkansas - Game 14
Ole Miss closes its six-game homestretch with its SEC opener vs. Arkansas on Friday Jan. 2. The Rebels and Razorbacks will tipoff at 6 p.m. from Tad Smith Coliseum. The game will be broadcast online on SECN+ with Will Kollmeyer and Armintie Herrington on the call.
Game 14: Ole Miss (10-3) vs. Arkansas (10-2)
Date: January 2, 2015
Location: Oxford, Miss. (Tad Smith Coliseum)
Series: Ole Miss leads, 24-14
Streak: Ole Miss won the last meeting
| SECN+ Link | Game Notes (PDF)
Starting Five
1. Ole Miss kicks off league action against Arkansas for the first time since the 2001-0-2 season and opens the league slate at home for the second straight season and the fourth time in the last five seasons. The Rebels are looking for their first win in an SEC opener since 2010-11. Ole Miss is 3-7 in SEC openers over the last 10 seasons and 6-4 in SEC home openers in that span.
2. The Rebels closed the non-conference slate with a 10-3 record after a 79-71 OT win over Southeastern Louisiana. The 10-3 record is the best non-conference record since the 2011-12 season and puts Ole Miss two wins shy of equaling its overall win total in each of the last two seasons. The Rebels are in search of their first 20 win season since 2006-07.
3. Tia Faleru picked up her second consecutive double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds against Southeastern Louisiana. Faleru now has 24 career double-doubles and needs just seven more to move into the top 5 in program history Faleru is averaging a double-double with 16.5 ppg and 10.5 rebounds per game.
4. A'Queen Hayes had a career night with 15 points against Southeastern Louisiana for her third game in double figures and her second time in double figures in the last three games. Hayes, who has worked her way into the starting lineup in the last four games, is averaging 10.7 points in her four starts and is currently on an 10-game scoring streak
5. With overtime in its last game, the Rebels have played at least one overtime contest in each of the last nine seasons, including three overtime games last season. In the Insell era, Ole Miss is 2-0 in OT games played at the Tad Pad. The Rebels move to 20-22 all-time in overtime games.
Ole Miss vs. Arkansas Notables
-This will be the 39th meeting between the Rebels and Razorbacks with Ole Miss leading the series, 24-14, including taking the last meeting in a thrilling 63-62 buzzer beater in the first round of the SEC Tournament last season. Ole Miss owns a 13-3 record in games played in Oxford.
-Ole Miss has an Arkansas native on the roster in junior captain Gracie Frizzell who hails from Little Rock, Arkansas. The Razorbacks don't have any Mississippi natives on the roster.
-Friday's game will be a battle of the top two scorers in the SEC in Arkansas' Kelsey Brooks who is leading the league with 17.3 ppg and Tia Faleru who is No. 2 with 16.5 ppg.
-The Razorbacks and Rebels play tight games and a combined four points have decided the last two meetings between the teams and five of the last eight meetings have been decided by less than 10 points.
A Win Would...
-Give Ole Miss its first win in its SEC opener since 2010-11 and would extend Ole Miss' current win streak to five games which would be the longest win streak since the Rebels won seven straight in 2013-14. It would also give Ole Miss its second straight win over the Razorbacks.
Rebels By The Numbers
4-Number of double doubles Tia Faleru has posted this season after 18 points and 11 rebounds against Southeastern Louisiana. With her 18 points and 11 rebounds she posted back-to-back double-doubles for the first time this season.
10-Number of non-conference wins for Ole Miss in 2014-15, it's the most conference wins since 2011-12. Ole Miss is in search of more than 12 conference wins sine the 2009-10 season.
12- Number of points Ole Miss scored in overtime against Southeastern Louisiana. In the extra session Ole Miss was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field and 4-of-6 from the free throw line.
15-Number of points freshman A'Queen Hayes had in a win over Southeastern Louisiana. It was her third career game in double figures and her second in the last three games.
396-Number of wins Ole Miss has at the Tad Pad. Ole Miss needs just four more home wins to reach 400 wins in its 41-year history at the Tad Smith Coliseum.
Scouting Arkansas
Arkansas enters the SEC opener with a 10-2 record and on a four-game win streak after a 77-35 win over Grambling on Monday. Under the leadership of first-year head coach Jimmy Dykes, the Razorbacks have four players averaging double figures led by Kelsey Brooks who is averaging 17.3 points per game and leading the SEC in scoring. Also in double figures is Jessica Jackson with 14.4, while Jhasmin Bowen and Melissa Wolff are contributing 11.8 and 10.1 points per game, respectively. Wolff is leading the squad in rebounding with 9.3 rebounds per game. As a team, Arkansas is averaging 68.6 points per game and is pulling down 46.3 rebounds per game.
About Ole Miss
Senior forward Tia Faleru continues to lead Ole Miss with 16.5 points per game and 10.5 rebounds per game. Faleru has scored in double figures in 11 of Ole Miss' 13 games and has grabbed eight or more rebounds in 12 of Ole Miss' 13 games, while recording four double-doubles on the season. Faleru is the lone player in double figures but Erika Sisk is nearing double figures with 9.0 points per game. The Rebels boast a fairly balanced scoresheet with nine players averaging at least four points. Danielle McCray and Kelsey Briggs are helping Faleru shoulder the rebounding load averaging 4.8 and 3.6 rebounds per game, respectively.
On Deck
Ole Miss will hit the road for its next two games first traveling to Kentucky on Jan 4 for a nationally televised game on the SEC Network and then heading to Florida on Jan. 8 to take on the Gators in a game televised on Fox.
