The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Host UL-Lafayette on SEC Network
11/14/2015 | Women's Basketball
Game Notes- UL-Lafayette - Game 2
Complete Game Notes
Ole Miss kicks off the 2015-16 women's basketball programming on the SEC Network with a nationally-televised contest against UL-Lafayette. The Rebels and Ragin' Cajuns will tipoff at 7 p.m. on SEC Network with Paul Sunderland (P-X-P) and Gail Goesetenkors (Color Analyst) on the call.
Game 2: Ole Miss (1-0) vs. UL-Lafayette (0-0)
Date: November 15, 2015
Time: 7: 00 pm
Location: Oxford, Miss. (Tad Smith Coliseum)
Television: SEC Network
Livestats:
Starting Five
1. Ole Miss picked up its eighth consecutive and 36th overall season opening win with a 97-61 win over Mississippi Valley State on Friday at the 13th annual Kids Day. The Rebels also set a new attendance record with 7,407 fans, which are also the most to watch a women's basketball game in Mississippi.
2. Shandricka Sessom led the Rebel offense scoring a career-high 24 points against Mississippi Valley State. It was the Byhalia, Miss., native's second career game of 20+ and the first 20-point game for Rebel since former Rebel Tia Faleru had 24 points in a WNIT game vs. Georgia Tech last season.
3. Rutgers transfer Precious Person made her debut in an Ole Miss uniform against the Lady Devilettes. Person, who sat out 2014-15 per NCAA transfer rules and while rehabbing a knee injury, scored four points and grabbed two rebounds in nine minutes in her debut -- her first game action in over a year.
4.Each of Ole Miss' freshmen saw time in the season-opener and all made it into the stat sheet. Jonell Williams led the team in rebounding with nine rebounds in eight minutes, while Alissa Alston reached double figures with 12 points in her debut.
5. Ole Miss is one of the youngest teams in the SEC with no seniors and just two players who have been in the program more than two years in Bretta Hart and Shequila Joseph. Ole Miss has nine freshman or sophomores on its roster, although sophomores Kelsey Briggs, A'Queen Hayes and Shandricka Sessom each played in over 30 games last season.
Ole Miss vs. UL-Lafayette Notables
-This will be the first meeting between UL-Lafayette and Ole Miss since the 2008-09 season. Ole Miss owns a 3-0 record against the Ragin Cajun's although the teams have actually met four times. The first meeting in 1974 was before the Rebels recognized a varsity women's basketball team.
-Ole Miss will be the first of two SEC schools the Ragin' Cajuns face this year. UL-Lafayette will take on Arkansas in Puerto Rico over the Thanksgiving holiday.
-UL-Lafayette will be the second Sun Belt school Ole Miss has faced in the Insell era. The Rebels took on UL-Monroe during the 2013-14 season picking up a 78-72 victory.
A Win Would
-Give the Rebels a 2-0 start for the second consecutive season and be the sixth 2-0 start over the last nine seasons
-Make the Rebels 14 wins way from the 800th victory in program history. Ole Miss' current record is 785-473. 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.
24- Number of points Shandricka Sessom scored against Mississippi Valley State. It was her second career game of 20+ points and was a new career-best for the Mississippi native.
288- 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 UL-Lafayette
UL-Lafayette will open their season in Sunday's contest. The Ragin' Cajuns are coming off a postseason appearance in the WBI and return all five of their starters from a 23-12 campaign a year ago. UL-Lafayette had three players average double figures and was led by Keke Veal with 14.9 points per game. Jayln Gordon and Kia Wilridge added 13.4 and 12.3 points per game, respectively. Wildridge couples with Simone Fields to lead the rebounding efforts, as both are grabbed 4.5 rebounds per game a year ago.
About Ole Miss
Ole Miss opened the 2015-16 season with a 97-61 win over Mississippi Valley State on Friday. Sophomore Shandricka Sessom led a quartet of players in double figures with a career-high 24 points. She was joined in double figures by three of her teammates. Oxford native Erika Sisk added 15 points while Kelsey Briggs and Alissa Alston each added 12 points. Freshman Jonell Williams led the team with nine rebounds. For the second consecutive opener Ole Miss scored over 90 points and held its opponent to under 40 percent shooting. The Rebels also forced 35 turnovers and had 17 steals in the win.
Up Next
The Rebels will conclude its three-game homestand on Thursday Nov. 19 against Missouri State out of the Missouri Valley Conference. The game is set for 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on SEC Network+
