Rebels Looking to Bounce Back vs. Jacksonville State

			OLE MISS (3-5, 0-0 SEC) vs. JACKSONVILLE STATE (3-3, 0-0 OVC) Sunday, Dec. 1 • 2 PM • Oxford, Miss. The Pavilion at Ole Miss (9,500) $1 Tickets
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OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss women's basketball looks to take momentum from several valiant but heartbreaking losses toward an afternoon contest with Jacksonville State on Sunday. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. CT inside The Pavilion and on SEC Network +.

TEAM FACTS

Ole Miss Rebels (3-5, 0-0 SEC)
Head Coach: Yolett McPhee-McCuin • 1st Season at Ole Miss (3-5) • 97-68 career record (6th Season)

Jacksonville State Gamecocks (3-3, 0-0 OVC)
Head Coach: Rick Pietri • 6th Season at JSU (78-76) • 155-148 career record (19th season)

ON THE AIR

Television/Online: SEC Network +
Play-by-Play: Seth Austin
Color: Lindsay Roy

OLE MISS RADIO

Play-by-Play: Graham Doty (@GrahamDoty)
Audio: TuneIn / RebelVision

SCOUTING JACKSONVILLE STATE

Current Record: 3-3, 0-0 OVC
• Two averaging double-digit scoring
• Shooting .354 as a team, .297 from 3PT
• Rank in the NCAA top-50 in turnover margin (32nd, +6.2), blocks (36th, 4.8/game) and scoring defense (45th, 55.5 PPG)

Series History
Ole Miss leads, 3-0

First Meeting
Dec. 5, 1982
• W, 102-54, in Oxford
• One of 34 100-point games in Ole Miss history

Last Meeting
Nov. 17, 2016
• W, 68-50, in Oxford

2017-18 Record: 19-12, 12-6 OVC
• Tied school record for wins since moving to Division I

Players to Watch

#3 Destiney Elliott
• 13.2 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 15 3PT FG

#34 Rayven Pearson
• 10.5 PPG, 9.5 APG, 2.0 BPG, .453 FG
• Leads OVC, ranks 32nd in NCAA with three double-doubles
• Ranks 41 nationally with 2.0 blocks/game

TEAM NOTES

LAST TIME OUT (vs. TCU)
Ole Miss erased a 14-point deficit with a superb second half of basketball, but the TCU Horned Frogs escaped with a 55-50 win after holding on late in an SEC/Big 12 Challenge matchup at The Pavilion on Nov. 29.

It was a familiar story for the Rebels (3-5), who for the fourth consecutive game put on a spectacular display in the back half, forcing nine TCU (5-1) turnovers in the third quarter alone toward a 23-10 advantage in the third. But the Horned Frogs prevailed 16-10 in the final quarter the same way they had all game prior: a stifling defense, a wide rebounding margin of 47-32 and on the backs of two impressive outings from Preseason All-Big 12 members Amy Okonkwo (19 points, 11 rebounds) and Jordan Moore (15 points, 15 rebounds).

Ole Miss was without the services of starting point guard Mimi Reid, who suffered a concussion the day prior, which forced seniors Crystal Allen and Shandricka Sessom into a split of the point position. Despite that, and despite a sluggish first half that saw the Rebels fall down 29-17 at the break, Ole Miss once again put all that behind them toward a spectacular third quarter turnaround.

The central figure, though, was the emergence of redshirt senior and Preseason All-SEC selection Shandricka Sessom on the exact one-year anniversary of her gruesome ACL injury on Nov. 29, 2017, vs. Middle Tennessee – also on national TV on SEC Network. Sessom came out swinging right out of the gate, scoring the first six Rebel points on two three-pointers. She ended up doubling her season total in threes entering tonight, hitting her fourth three at a critical juncture to put Ole Miss within one point at 51-50 with just 59 seconds to play.

Sessom ended the evening with an impressive stat line of 19 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks on 7-of-11 shooting and 4-of-4 from beyond the arc in 35 minutes played.

ROAD TO 100
First-year head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin may have just started her Ole Miss career, but she stands just three wins away from hitting the century mark for her career -- currently sitting at an overall mark of 97-68.

McPhee-McCuin is in her sixth season overall as a head coach, spending the previous five seasons as the head coach at Jacksonville. There, she guided the Dolphins to a 94-63 overall record, three-straight 20-win seasons and three postseason appearances.

OLE MISS VS. THE OHIO VALLEY
The Rebels hold a 39-5 all-time record against current Ohio Valley schools -- including a 3-0 record against Jacksonville State. Ole Miss has not lost to an OVC school since Nov. 16, 2001 at Tennessee Tech (77-55). The Rebels hold an even record vs. UT Martin (1-1) and winning marks vs. Austin Peay (5-0), Belmont (4-0), Jacksonville State (3-0), Murray State (5-0), Southeast Missouri (3-0), Tennessee State (3-0) and Tennessee Tech (15-4).

LATE GAME SUCCESS
The Rebels have showed a consistent resiliency throughout the season in the late stages of games, as Ole Miss is currently beating opponents in the fourth quarter by an advantage of 138-113. The Rebels have also won the second half in each of the last four games by a score of 109-92. Ole Miss has won the fourth quarter in all seven games this season, and is shooting 42.2 percent overall and averaging 17.3 points in the final frame.

OFF THE LINE
Ole Miss has had some success keeping opponents off the three-point line, holding opposing teams to 26.9 percent shooting from beyond the arc -- currently the third-best three-point defense in the SEC. Through eight games this year, the Rebels have held six opponents to less than 30 percent from three -- including five at 25 percent or lower. Last season, Ole Miss held opponents under 30 percent 10 times all season.

NO POINTS FOR YOU
Even after allowing 90 points to powerhouse UConn at the Paradise Jam, Ole Miss is still holding opponents to a respectable 63.5 points per game, holding seven of eight teams this year to 70 or fewer. Additionally, just two Rebel opponents have shot better than 38 percent overall from the field this season.

YOU GO, WE GO
Fifth-year senior La'Karis Salter has quickly taken on a leadership role in her first year at Ole Miss, and when she's on, so too are the Rebels. In Ole Miss wins, Salter is averaging 11.7 PPG and 8.3 rebounds, while on the opposite end she is averaging just 6.4 PPG and hauling in just 4.2 rebounds per game in Rebel losses.

NEWCOMERS TAKING CHARGE
With nearly a brand-new roster, it's easy to assume that the Rebel newcomers would be statistically proficient. But the new transfers and freshmen for Ole Miss have taken that to a new level, accounting for more than three-quarters of all Rebel scoring thus far a 80.1 percent.

Seniors Crystal Allen (130 points, 27.8 percent), La'Karis Salter (67 points, 14.3 percent) and Jhileiya Dunlap (58 points, 12.4 percent) have accounted for 54.6 percent of all Ole Miss scoring by themselves.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

REDEMPTION FOR SESSOM
Redshirt senior Shandricka Sessom put the team on her back in a gutsy Rebel performance vs. TCU on Nov. 29, breaking out of a slow start to her final season at Ole Miss with a demonstrative 19-point, 7-rebound performance against the Horned Frogs. It was a season-high scoring effort out of Sessom in just her second double-digit game of the season after returning from a gruesome ACL injury that occurred exactly one year to the day from her offensive explosion on Thursday night.

In the first quarter vs. Middle Tennessee on Nov. 29, 2017, Sessom went down with the knee injury that would sideline her the rest of the season after seven excellent games played. Sessom, who was averaging 17.7 PPG at the time of her injury, was awarded a fifth year of eligibility on a medical hardship waiver.

MOVIN' ON UP
Shandricka Sessom ranks as the active career scorer for the Rebels at 1,183 points -- currently sitting at 20th on the Ole Miss all-time scoring list after leap-frogging four Rebels after her 19-point performance on Thursday night. Sessom stands within striking distance of a handful of others in the coming games, as just eight points separates her from 18th all-time. Below are the next names on the all-time list coming up next for Sessom:

18. Becky Myatt (1997-2001) - 1,191
19. Erika Sisk (2012-17) - 1,187

Sessom became the 28th 1,000-point scorer in program history vs. Texas A&M on Feb. 26, 2017. In her three full seasons of play, she averaged 341.6 points. If she were to maintain that average this season, Sessom would finish her career ranked 13th all-time.

ALLEN MAKES IT RAIN IN PARADISE
Crystal Allen put together an incredible string of performances at the Paradise Jam last week, scoring 50 points in three games vs. UConn (11), Purdue (13) and St. John's (26). Allen was named to the All-Tournament team for her efforts after averaging 16.7 PPG in those three games, shooting 42.5 percent from the field and 45.0 percent from beyond the arc along the way.

ALLEN NEARING 1,000 POINTS
Crystal Allen is getting close to becoming the 30th Rebel to ever surpass the 1,000-point mark for her career, currently sitting at 958. She scored 303 while at Seattle, 525 while at UT-Arlington, and she is already up to 130 points through seven games as a Rebel.

CRYSTAL SHARP
Grad transfer Crystal Allen has been the offensive catalyst for the Rebels thus far this season, accounting for nearly a third of all Ole Miss scoring. Allen has scored at least 11 points in seven of eight games, giving her 130 points this year at an average of 16.3 PPG -- seventh-best in the SEC. She has eclipsed 20 points twice this year, first scoring 21 in a loss vs. IUPUI before dropping a career-high 26 points on St. John's -- 23 of which helped spark a superb second-half comeback for the Rebels. Her 26-point performance vs. the Red Storm was the most by a Rebel since Torri Lewis hung 26 on Alabama on Feb. 11, 2018.

Allen came to Ole Miss following two seasons at UT-Arlington and two seasons at Seattle. Her final year at UT-Arlington, Allen earned Third-Team All-Sun Belt after helping lead the Mavericks to an 18-12 season with 11.7 PPG.

NO REST FOR CRYSTAL
Crystal Allen hasn't seen much of the bench this season, currently ranking third in the SEC and 16th in the NCAA in minutes at 35.1 per game -- the most by a Rebel this year by nearly four minutes over starting point guard Mimi Reid's 31.9 minutes per game.

CLASS OF THE SEC
Senior guards Shandricka Sessom and Crystal Allen both have 950 career points scored, making Ole Miss one of just three SEC schools with two active players at or above the 950 mark. Sessom ranks sixth among active SEC scorers with 1,183 points, while Allen's 958 puts her at 10th in the league.

GET THAT OUTTA HERE!
Junior Jhileiya Dunlap has proven to be an effective jack-of-all-trades on the floor for the Rebels, but she has specifically found a knack for swatting away shots. Dunlap has notched 16 of the 32 total blocks by Ole Miss -- putting her fourth in the SEC and 17th in the NCAA at the moment.

DUNLAP'S BIG DEBUT
A return from shoulder injury wasn't going to slow down junior Jhileiya Dunlap in her first game as a Rebel vs. Norfolk State, proving her talent immediately as an all-around player. Dunlap notched the first Rebel double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 boards, but she didn't stop there, tallying four blocks, three steals and two assists in the effort as well.

Dunlap spent the previous two seasons at Gulf Coast State Community College, where she was part of two NJCAA semifinalist teams -- including a national title team in 2017. Dunlap was the Gatorade Player of the Year in South Carolina in 2015-16 coming out of high school.

CRAWFORD CLEARED
Freshman Gabby Crawford had just two hours advance notice that she was cleared and immediately eligible to play vs. Temple on Nov. 14 night, and the four-star recruit out of Munford, Tennessee, did not waste the opportunity. In just 15 minutes of action, Crawford put up six points, hauled three rebounds and blocked two shots. Crawford was originally committed to Alabama before transferring to Ole Miss at the beginning of the semester.

Crawford received her first career start vs. Purdue at the Paradise Jam, and in six games played she has recorded at least four points and four rebounds five times. She tallied a career-high nine points and six rebounds vs. St. John's.

CECI FROM...THREE?
Senior Cecilia Muhate may have found a new way to contribute offensively for the Rebels with a newfound ability to shoot the deep ball. In her three seasons prior, Muhate had never even attempted a three-pointer, but in the season-opener vs. Norfolk State, Muhate put up three attempts from beyond the arc. It wasn't until Nov. 14 vs. Temple that Muhate connected, draining 2-of-3 from three-point land to give her 10 points -- her first double-digit scoring game since scoring 10 points vs. South Alabama on Dec. 9, 2017.

REID NAMED SEC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Last week, Ole Miss starting point guard Mimi Reid was named the SEC Freshman of the Week for her efforts in Rebel wins vs. Temple and Western Michigan.

Reid averaged 6.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in those two games, recording a career-high 11 rebounds against WMU. Coupled with La'Karis Salter's 12 rebounds, the game marked the first time since Jan. 1, 2017 that multiple Rebels had recorded double-digit rebounds.

Reid is averaging 4.4 assists per game this year, currently tied for the seventh best average in the SEC.

Follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissWBB, Facebook at Ole Miss WBB on Instagram at Ole MissWBB and on Snapchat with the handle @OleMissWBB. You can also follow head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin on Twitter at @YolettMcCuin

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Players Mentioned

Crystal Allen

Gabby Crawford

Torri Lewis

Cecilia Muhate

Mimi Reid

La'Karis Salter

Shandricka Sessom

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