The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Kicks off Season with School Kids Game
11/12/2015 | Women's Basketball
Game Notes- Mississippi Valley State - Game 1
Complete Game Notes (PDF)
Ole Miss kicks off the 2015-16 season on Friday Nov. 13 when they take on Mississippi Valley State in the season-opener and also the 13th annual School Kids Game. Tipoff will be at 11 am at C.M. Tad Smith Coliseum.
Game 1: Ole Miss (0-0) vs. Mississippi Valley (0-0)
Date: November 13, 2015
Time: 11:00 am
Location: Oxford, Miss. (Tad Smith Coliseum)
Television: SECN+ (Webcast)
Livestats:
Starting Five
- The Rebels open the 42nd season of women's basketball on Friday, which will be the 1,257th game since the first varsity season in 1974-75. Ole Miss has an all-time record of 784-473 and is just 16 wins from the 800th win in program history entering the 2015-16 season.
- Friday's game at 11 am against Mississippi Valley State marks the 13th annual School Kids game. The Rebels will open the season at home for the seventh straight season and are seeking their eighth consecutive season-opening victory against the Lady Devilettes.
- Ole Miss is seeking its 39th home-opening victory and its third straight under the guidance of head coach Matt Insell. Ole Miss is 38-3 in home openers and last dropped a home opener in 2004-05, 88-70 against Louisiana Tech. This is the second consecutive season Ole Miss' home opener is the School Kids game.
- Friday's game marks the first college game for Ole Miss' freshmen, Alissa Alston (New Haven, Conn.), Madinah Muhammad (Chicago, Ill.), Cecelia Muhate Pena (Madrid, Spain), Torri Lewis (Olive Branch, Miss.) and Jonell Williams (Palatka, Fla.).
- Erika Sisk enters her junior year just 303 points away from 1,000 career points. She will become the second player to achieve the milestone under head coach Matt Insell and staff and will become the 27th player in program history to top 1,000 career points
Ole Miss vs. Mississippi Valley Notables
-This will be the fourth consecutive season the Rebels and Lady Devilettes will meet on the hardwood but the first time the teams will meet in the season-opener. Ole Miss leads the all-time series 13-2 and has won the last eight meetings between the teams and is 11-0 against MVSU in Oxford.
-Ole Miss and Mississippi Valley State both have players that hail from Chicago, Ill., as Ole Miss freshman Madinah Muhammad prepped at Chicago's Whitney Young while MVSU's Zemoria Jernigan played at Wendell Phillips Academy.
-Mississippi Valley is one of three teams form the SWAC the Rebels will face this season. Ole Miss will also host Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Alabama A&M in non-conference action. This season. Ole Miss is 72-6 against teams from the SWAC all-time.
A Win Would
-Give Ole Miss its eighth consecutive season-opening win and its 38th overall win in a home opener and 11th consecutive home-opening win. It would also be move head coach Matt Insell to 3-0 in season-openers.
-Move the Rebels 15 games closer to the 800th win in program history. The earliest Ole Miss could hit the 800th win would be on Jan. 10 vs. Florida during the Pavilion at Ole Miss grand opening weekend.
Rebels By The Numbers
0- Number of seniors on the Ole Miss roster. Ole Miss will be led by a quartet of juniors in Bretta Hart, Shequila Joseph, Precious Person and Erika Sisk.
6 - Number of new faces on the Ole Miss roster. This group includes five freshmen in Alissa Alston, Madinah Muhammad, Cecilia Muhate Pena, Torri Lewis and Jonell Williams. Additionally, Precious Person will be a new face as she sat out last season as a transfer from Rutgers.
9- Number of underclassmen on the Ole Miss roster. On Ole Miss' roster of 13 that means that nearly 70 percent of the players have been in the program two years or less.
16- Number of wins Ole Miss needs to reach 800 program victories. Currently Ole Miss' all-time record is 984-473. Ole Miss' first chance to reach 800 wins will be against Florida on Jan. 10.
303- Number of points Erika Sisk needs to hit the 1,000-point milestone. The Oxford native has scored over 300 points in each of her two collegiate seasons and seems poised to become Ole Miss' 27th 1,000- point scorer in school history.
Scouting Mississippi Valley State
Friday's game will also be Mississippi Valley's first game of the season. The Lady Devilettes are coming of a 4-27, 3-17 SWAC season a year ago. Ashley Beal's returns as Mississippi Valley State's top scorer after averaging 11.3 points per game last season and top rebounder with 6.8 rebounds per game a season ago. The Lady Devilettes averaged 50.4 points and 38.6 rebounds per game last season. In the last meeting, Ole Miss held them to just 38 points. Mississippi Valley will play five SEC teams, including four straight to open the season. In addition to the Rebels, MVSU will take on Vanderbilt, Alabama, Mississippi State and Arkansas.
About Ole Miss
Ole Miss opens the third year of the Matt Insell era with a ton of momentum after a 19-14, 7-9 SEC record a year ago. The Rebels returned to the postseason for the first time in five years and advanced to the third round of the postseason WNIT. Ole Miss welcomes five new faces to the roster in freshmen Alissa Alston, Madinah Muhammad, Cecilia Muhate Pena, Jonell Williams and Torri Lewis. Additionally, Ole Miss will gain the services of R-Jr. Precious Person who sat out last season per NCAA transfer rules. Erika Sisk returns as Ole Miss' top scorer with 9.2 points per game as a sophomore, while 2015 Freshman All-SEC selection A'Queen Hayes returns as the top rebounder with 4.3 rebounds per game as a freshman to go along with 7.3 points per game. Ole Miss is coming into the 2015-16 season as one of the youngest teams in the SEC and arguably nationally with nine freshman and sophomores and just two players who are entering their third year in the program in Bretta Hart and Shequila Joseph.
Up Next
The Rebels will host UL-Lafayette on Sunday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. in the first televised women's basketball contest on the SEC Network.
