The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Hosts Mississippi State
1/20/2015 | Women's Basketball
Game Notes- vs. No. 18/20 Mississippi State - Game 20
Ole Miss returns home to take on instate rival and No. 15/18 Mississippi State in nationally televised contest on SEC Network on Thursday at Tad Smith Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 8 PM CT with Paul Sunderland and Carolyn Peck on the call.
Game 20: Ole Miss (14-5, 4-2 SEC) vs. No. 15 Mississippi State (19-2, 4-2 SEC)
Date: January 22, 2015
Location: Oxford, Miss. (Tad Smith Coliseum)
Series: Ole Miss leads, 63-24
Streak: Mississippi State won the last meeting
| TV: SEC Network| Game Notes (PDF)
Starting Five
1. Playing its second consecutive ranked opponent, Ole Miss dropped hard fought, 59-48, contest to No. 11/12 Texas A&M on Sunday. Ole Miss moved to 14-5, 4-2 SEC, dropping just its second game in the last 10 outings. Tia Faleru posted her SEC leading eighth double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
2. Oxford native Erika Sisk posted her fourth consecutive game in double figures with a team-best 15 points. Sisk, in her first season at Ole Miss after playing her freshman year at Murray State, has been in double figures in 10 games this season and 22nd career game in double figures.
3. Ole Miss will close out a stretch in which they will have faced three consecutive ranked opponents when they welcome No. 18 Mississippi State. Ole Miss is 1-3 against ranked foes this season and picked up its first win over a ranked foe since 2011 when they defeated No. 16/18 Georgia on Jan. 15.
4. Tia Faleru extended her double-figure scoring streak to 10 straight games with 11 points and 12 rebounds vs. Texas A&M on Sunday. She picked up her eight double-double of the year and her 28th career double-double which ranks sixth all-time at Ole Miss.
5. The Rebels can pick up the 400th win at Tad Smith Coliseum on Thursday when it faces Mississippi State. Ole Miss has a record of 399-120 (.768) in games played on its home court and have only posted two sub-.500 records at home in the last 13 seasons. Ole Miss is 11-2 at home this season.
Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State Notables
-This will be the 88th meeting between Ole Miss and Mississippi Sate, with Ole Miss owning a 63-24 advantage. The two teams split meetings last season with each team winning on its home court in games that both went to overtime. Ole Miss owns a 29-9 record in games played in Oxford.
-Ole Miss assistant coach Brittany Hudson came to Oxford in May after spending the previous two years as an assistant coach on Vic Schafer's staff at Mississippi State.
A Win Would...
-Move Ole Miss to 15-5, 5-2 SEC, giving the Rebels their best start in SEC action since the 2009-10 season when they opened 5-1. It would also give Ole Miss its second win over a ranked opponent and would be the 400th victory at Tad Smith Coliseum.
Rebels By The Numbers
8-Number of three-pointers from Gracie Frizzell against Alabama on Jan. 11. The Little Rock, Arkansas native set a new Ole Miss single-game record and Tad Smith record. Her eight triples are the most in the SEC this season.
12-Number of rebounds Tia Faleru had against Texas A&M. She also added 11 points for her eighth double-double of the season and 28th career double-double. Faleru is leading the SEC in rebounding with 10.6 boards per game.
14- Number of wins the Ole Miss team has entering the Mississippi State game. Ole Miss hasn't posted more than 12 wins since the 2009-10 season and is in search of its first winning record since going 17-15 in 2009-10. Ole Miss' last 20-win season was in 2006-07 when the Rebels went 24-11 and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight.
39-Number of points Ole Miss' starters scored against Texas A&M in a 58-49 loss to the Aggies on Sunday. Erika Sisk led the way with 15 points while Shequila Joseph contributed 10 points to account for all of Ole Miss' bench scoring.
399-Number of wins Ole Miss has at the Tad Pad. Ole Miss is in need of just one more win to reach 400 wins at Tad Smith Coliseum.
Scouting Mississippi State
Mississippi State enters Thursday's game with a 19-2, 4-2 SEC record after defeating Alabama, 66-50, in Starkville on Sunday, the win over the Crimson Tide snapped a two-game losing streak for the Bulldogs with a road loss to Vanderbilt and a double overtime loss to LSU. Freshman Victoria Vivians is the lone player in double figures averaging 14.2 points per game while Morgan William is close with 9.9 points per game. Breanna Richardson, Martha Alwal and Chinwe Okorie are shouldering the rebounding load. Richardson is averaging a team-best 6.0 rebounds per game while Alwal and Okorie are pulling down, 5.9 and 5.2 rebounds, respectively. As a team, Mississippi State is averaging 78.9 points per game and 43.6 rebounds but 64.3 points and 37.2 rebounds per game in SEC action.
About Ole Miss
Senior forward Tia Faleru continues to lead Ole Miss with 15.9 points per game and 10.6 rebounds per game. Faleru has scored in double figures in 17 of Ole Miss' 19 games and has grabbed eight or more rebounds in 17 of Ole Miss' 19 games, with and SEC-best eight double-doubles on the season. Faleru is the lone player in double figures, but Erika Sisk is nearing double figures with 9.9 points per game while Ole Miss has four players averaging 6.0 points or better. Danielle McCray and A'Queen Hayes are helping Faleru shoulder the rebounding load averaging 4.6 and 4.3 rebounds per game, respectively. In SEC action, the Rebel have two players averaging double figures with Faleru leading the way with 14.8 points, while Erika Sisk is averaging 12.0 points. A'Queen Hayes is also netting 8.3 points per game against SEC foes.
On Deck
Ole Miss will take the weekend off and will return to the hardwood on Jan. 29 when they travel to Baton Rouge to take on LSU. Game time is set of 8 p.m. CT and will be broadcast nationally on SEC Network.
From The Coach
