Rebels Return Home to Host No. 23 Tennessee

			OLE MISS (7-8, 0-2 SEC) vs. #23 TENNESSEE (11-3, 1-1 SEC) Thursday, Jan. 9 • 7 p.m. • Oxford, Miss. The Pavilion at Ole Miss (9,500) Red Out • #NoCeilings T-Shirt
Watch • Live Stats • Listen • Buy Tickets Ole Miss Game Notes (PDF) • Tennessee Game Notes (PDF) • SEC Game Notes

OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss women's basketball returns home to face another ranked team when No. 23 Tennessee comes to The Pavilion on Thursday night.

PROMOTIONS
• Red Out
• #NoCeilings T-Shirt Giveaway

TEAM FACTS

Ole Miss Rebels (7-8, 0-2 SEC)
Head Coach: Yolett McPhee-McCuin • 2nd Season at Ole Miss (16-30) • 110-93 career record (7th Season)

#23 Tennessee Lady Vols (11-3, 1-1 SEC)
Head Coach: Kellie Harper • 1st Season at Tennessee (11-3) • 296-211 career record (16th season)

ON THE AIR

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

OLE MISS RADIO

Radio: 105.1 FM
Audio: TuneIn
Play-by-Play: Graham Doty

SERIES AT A GLANCE
At Oxford: Tennessee leads 20-4
At Knoxville: Tennessee leads 21-2
At Neutral Sites: Tennessee leads 5-2
Longest UM Streak: 4 (1985-87)
Longest UT Streak: 28 (1996-2016)
Biggest UM Win: 14 (2/5/86 - at Oxford)
Biggest UT Win: 67 (2/8/01 - at Knoxville)
Most UM Points: 83 (3/1/86 - at Athens)
Most UT Points: 119 (2/8/01 - at Knoxville)
Last 10 Meetings: Tennessee leads 9-1

SERIES NOTES vs. TENNESSEE

Series History
Tennessee leads, 46-8

Current Streak
Tennessee, 2

First Meeting
Jan. 17, 1977
• L, 58-56, in Oxford

First SEC Meeting
Jan. 8, 1983
• L, 69-67, in Oxford

Last Meeting
March 1, 2019
• L, 81-56, in Oxford

Last Win
Jan. 12, 2017
• W, 67-62
• First Rebel win vs. Tennessee since 1996 (snapped 28-game losing streak)

SCOUTING TENNESSEE

Record
11-3, 1-1 SEC

National Rankings
AP Ranking: No. 23
Coaches Ranking: No. 24

Last Game
W, 80-76, at No. 13 Kentucky
• Three in double-digits: Rennia Davis (27), Rae Burrell (16), Jordan Horston (13)
• Shot 45.9 percent, allowed 40.0
• Out-rebounded Kentucky, 41-36
• Had 12 blocks
• 21 turnovers; UK turned into 28 points
• 3-of-11 from three-point (.273)
• Allowed 37 points and nine boards to UK's Rhyne Howard
• Erased two different 13-point deficits

Notes
• RPI: 96
• Shooting .448 as a team, yielding .307
• Shooting .311 from three, allowing .266
• Out-rebounding opponents by +15.8
• Out-scoring by a margin of +18.3/game
• Leads the NCAA in rebounding margin (+15.8)
• Also leads the SEC in field goal defense (.307), rebounding offense (50.7/game), assists (17.7/game), offensive rebounds (17.1/game), and defensive rebounds (33.6/game)
• Ranks in the NCAA top-50 in: rebounding margin (1st, +15.8), field goal defense (2nd, .307), defensive rebounds per game (2nd, 33.6), total blocks (2nd, 96), rebounds per game (2nd, 50.7), blocks per game (3rd, 6.9), total rebounds (3rd, 711), offensive rebounds per game (6th, 17.1), total assists (19th, 248), assists per game (20th, 17.7), scoring margin (25th, +18.3), scoring defense (35th, 56.5 PPG), three-point defense (36th, .266), field goal percentage (40th, .448), scoring offense (42nd, 74.8 PPG)

TENNESSEE PLAYERS TO WATCH

#0 Rennia Davis • Junior
• 17.4 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 2.4 APG, 1.3 3PT
• .465 FG, .310 3PT, .800 FT
• Ranks in the NCAA top-50 in: double-doubles (16th, 7), field goals made (48th, 93)
• 4th SEC in rebounding (8.8 RPG)
• 5th SEC in scoring (17.4 PPG)
• Also SEC top-10 in: defensive rebounds (3rd, 5.8/game), free throw shooting (6th, .800), offensive rebounds (8th, 3.0/game)
• Career vs. Ole Miss (2 games): 31 points (15.5/game), 9-of-14 FG (.643), 1-of-2 3PT (.500), 12-of-16 FT (.750), 14 rebounds (7.0/game), 2 steals (1.0/game), 2 assists (1.0/game), 1 block (0.5/game),

#12 Rae Bureell • Sophomore
• 10.9 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.6 APG
• .457 FG, .321 3PT
• Career vs. Ole Miss (1 game): 6 points, 2 assists

#25 Jordan Horston • Freshman
• 10.4 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 4.8 APG, 1.6 SPG
• .418 FG, .333 3PT
• 2nd SEC in assists/game (4.8)
• 41st NCAA in total assists (67)

#13 Jazmine Massengill • Sophomore
• 6.5 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 4.6 APG
• Leads SEC in assist/turnover ratio (2.9)

REBEL CAREERS VS. TENNESSEE

Torri Lewis • 3 Games
• 1.0 PPG, 1.3 RPG

Mimi Reid • 1 Game (03-03-19)
• 4 assists

Taylor Smith • 1 Game (03-03-19)
• 2 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists

Iyanla Kitchens • 1 Game (03-03-19)
• 1 rebound

LAST TIME OUT (at #10 Texas A&M)
Ole Miss women's basketball fell on the road at No. 10 Texas A&M, with a final score of 79-35 at Reed Arena on Jan. 6.

The Aggies (14-1, 2-0 SEC) led wire-to-wire, using an 11-0 run to separate for good in the first quarter. The Rebels (7-8, 0-2 SEC) were able to hold national player of the year candidate Chennedy Carter (13 points, eight assists, six rebounds, two blocks) to single-digit scoring until the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, but Texas A&M received other great outings from Ciera Johnson (17 points, three rebounds, two assists), Shambria Washington (12 points, three rebounds, three assists), N'Dea Jones (10 points, 13 rebounds, six steals, two assists) and Aaliyah Wilson (10 points, two rebounds, one assist) while shooting 55.7 percent from the floor.

Ole Miss was paced by Deja Cage, who scored 15 points and hauled in eight rebounds while knocking down three trifectas in the process. Cage has scored in double digits in 10 games this season.

Dominique Banks also had a solid night with five points and six rebounds to go along with her three blocks. Banks, the SEC's No. 2 shot blocker, has had at least three rejections in eight games this season.

TEAM NOTES

DAUNTING SCHEDULE AHEAD
Ole Miss not only faces the yearly gauntlet of SEC season now, but it also is going up against a slate of some of the naton's best squads. A total of 10 of the SEC's 14 teams currently reside in the NCAA RPI top-100, with Tennessee coming in at No. 96.

Ole Miss holds the nation's 42nd-toughest future schedule according the the NCAA's strength of schedule rankings.

VARIETY IN THE STARTING LINEUP
Ole Miss has used 12 different starting lineups in its first 15 games of the 2019-20 season. In Coach Yo's first season with the Rebels, Ole Miss used 17 different starting lineups through 31 total games played.

DEADLY FROM DISTANCE
Ole Miss has found a sweet spot lately from beyond the arc, currently ranking seventh in the SEC in three-point shooting at a season percentage of 31.6 and seventh in threes per game at an average of 5.4. After going 9-of-41 (.220) over a three-game stretch from Nov. 29 to Dec. 4, the Rebels went 37-of-101 (.366) from Dec. 14 to Jan. 2, led by a season-best 12-of-20 (.600) outing against Alabama State on Dec. 28.

OFF THE LINE
Ole Miss has proved difficult to damage from distance, ranking fourth in the SEC and 33rd in the NCAA at an opposing three-point percentage of 26.4 while holding opponents to five or fewer three-pointers in 13 of 15 games this season. Just one Rebel opponent has shot better than 33 percent from distance, with Pitt shooting 41.2 on Nov. 30. The Rebel defense held Louisiana to a season-low 1-of-10 clip from the three-point line, the third time in the last two seasons that Ole Miss has held an opposing team to one three-point field goal. Ole Miss is among just four SEC schools to rank in the top-seven of both three-point shooting and defense this year.

In the Coach Yo era, three-point defense has been a point of emphasis, holding opponents to five threes or fewer in 30 of 46 games in her two seasons. Last season, Ole Miss held 17 opponents to 30 percent or less from three, including 12 that shot 25 percent or worse and four that haven't been able to break 20 percent. The year before, Ole Miss held opponents under 30 percent just 10 times all season.

OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION VS. ALABAMA ST.
The Rebels put together an impressive offensive performance against Alabama State on Dec. 28, with their 93 points standing as the most by an Ole Miss team since notching 96 against Troy on Nov. 21, 2017. That was just the beginning of the notes for the Rebels, who scored a season-high quarter total twice with 31 in the third and 29 in the fourth, while also recording a season-high 12 three-pointers and 24 assists -- the most by an Ole Miss team in both categories since Dec. 28, 2018 vs. North Florida.

STEAL YO BALL
The Rebel defense have been masters of theft, recording double-digit steals in five games this season after having done so only three times during the entire 2018-19 season and five times throughout 2017-18. The Rebel defense has eclipsed 13 steals three times this season -- including in back-to-back games against Louisiana Tech and Sam Houston State, the first such instance since notching 13 against Austin Peay on Dec. 20, 2016 and 24 vs. Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 28, 2016.

TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK
Ole Miss had six double-digit scorers in the big 93-66 win over Alabama State on Dec. 28, the most since seven Rebels eclipsed double digits against Winston-Salem State more than 10 years ago on Dec. 20, 2009 (W, 101-46). Since that game in 2009, Ole Miss has recorded at least five double-digit scorers in 10 games, and have only done so in consecutive games once in back-to-back outings against Mississippi State on Jan. 21, 2010 (W, 66-58) and at No. 8 Georgia on Jan. 24, 2010 (W, 66-65). Ole Miss is 9-1 in those games in that span, with the only loss coming at No. 9 Baylor on Dec. 18, 2013 (L, 87-80).

FIRST HALF SUCCESS = WINS
Ole Miss has found its way into the win columns more times than not when having a strong first half effort. The Rebels are 7-1 when leading at the break, with their lone loss coming against Georgia after holding a 28-27 halftime lead. Likewise, Ole Miss is 0-7 when trailing at halftime.

PUT IT ON THE BOARD!
The Rebels are currently undefeated when eclipsing the 70-point threshold this season, standing at 5-0 in such games. The Rebels won three in a row while breaking 70 points from Nov. 23-29 in wins against Louisiana Tech (76-53), Sam Houston State (75-69) and Alcorn State (73-55) with an average win margin of +15.7 in those games. Ole Miss scored a season-high 93 points in the non-conference closer vs. Alabama State, the most by a Rebel team since 2017.

OFF THE GLASS
When the Rebels work the glass effectively it has worked out in the end, as Ole Miss stands at 5-1 when tying or out-rebounding opponents this season. On the year, Ole Miss has had two games with a rebounding margin of +20 against ULM (43-23) and Alcorn State (52-32).

BENCH COMING THROUGH
The Rebel bench has been active in the scoring department, out-scoring opponents in 11 of 13 games thus far for a season total of 327-206.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

REBELS PICK UP REBOUNDING SLACK
Since the season-ending injury to freshman and leading rebounder Sarah Dumitrescu on Nov. 26 vs. Sam Houston State, several different Rebels have had to pick up the rebounding slack left behind. Dumitrescu was averaging 7.3 boards per game at the time, which has resulted in large increases in rebounds for guards like Deja Cage (+2.8 per game).

OH MY, SHE'S ON FIRE!
Junior Deja Cage has been a dynamic scorer for the Rebels, recording 10 different double-digit games through 15 contests this season and standing as the top Ole Miss scorer in four. Cage has also been one of the most consistent three-point shooters in the league, ranking fourth in threes per game (2.2).

Cage lit the net on fire with a career-high 30-point performance on 10-of-18 shooting and 5-of-8 three-point shooting against Louisiana Tech, one of just eight 30-point games in the SEC this season. She is one of just four Rebels in the last five years to have recorded a 30-point game.

BANKS WITH THE REJECTION
Junior Dominique Banks is on pace for a historical season defensively. At her current average of 2.8 blocks per game, she is on pace to nearly break the Ole Miss single-season record in blocks with 81. Banks is currently the NCAA's 15th-best in blocks per game and No. 10 overall in total blocks (42).

1. Promise Taylor - 82 ('17-18, 31 games)
2. Shawn Goff - 67 ('07-08, 29 games)
3. Shawn Goff - 60 ('08-09, 30 games)
4. Susan Byrd - 60 ('93-94, 33 games)
5. Susan Byrd - 59 ('92-93, 28 games)

Furthermore, her eight blocks against Georgia Southern on Dec. 16 stand as the second-most in a game at Ole Miss, as well as the sixth-most in the NCAA this season. Banks has had at least four blocks in three games and at least three blocks in eight contests. She has had multiple blocks in all but three games, and she has yet to go a game this season without recording a single rejection.

DOM ON THE BLOCK
Junior Dominique Banks has been a force to reckon with on the block, averaging 6.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks to go along with her 6.4 points per game average. Banks recorded her first career double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds vs. Alcorn State, the most boards by a Rebel since Bretta Hart hauled in 18 against Western Kentucky on Dec. 2, 2015.
Banks has started six games for the Rebels at the five position, and she currently ranks second in the SEC with her 2.8 blocks per game and 12th at 6.8 rebounds.

AIR IT OUT, TORRI!
Senior three-point specialist Torri Lewis has picked up right where she left off two years ago, returning for the Rebels as a key weapon from deep. Lewis, who returned for her redshirt senior season at Ole Miss after sitting out last year due to the birth of her son, A.J., is a career 34 percent three-point shooter. In her career, 86 percent of all of her field goals have come from three-point distance.

Lewis has found her hot hand as of late, shooting a combined 11-of-28 (.393) from three-point distance in three games from Dec. 16-28, knocking down at least three treys in each game and hitting four twice against Georgia Southern on Dec. 16 and Alabama State on Dec. 28. Lewis currently ranks 11th in the SEC with 1.7 threes per game.

In her career, Lewis owns 30 games with multiple threes -- hitting seven or more threes in a game twice. She knocked down a school-record 10 in a game vs. New Orleans as a freshman in 2015 (the third-most in a single-game in NCAA history), and during her junior year, she nailed seven against Alabama.

During that junior season, Lewis was on fire from downtown in the final month of the season, going 16-of-32 in a stretch from deep from Feb. 1-11. That season, 90 percent of her made field goals were three-pointers and 131 of her 150 attempts were from beyond the arc (87.3 percent).

MIMI DIRECTING TRAFFIC
Sophomore guard Mimi Reid has returned to her role as the floor general for the Rebels, leading Ole Miss in assists eight times this year and recording at least five assists five times. Reid had an incredible day against Alabama State, recording her second career double-double with a career-high 16 points and 10 assists -- the latter of which ties for the second-most assists in the SEC this season. That game marks the third time this year Reid eclipsed six assists in a game, giving her 13 such games already in her young career.

Reid was unflappable in this role as a redshirt freshman in 2018-19, spearheading what was an efficient Rebel offensive attack. She was the only player in the SEC last year with separate games of 11+ assists (vs. Louisiana) and 11+ rebounds (vs. Western Michigan), and she led all SEC freshmen with 4.3 assists per game (sixth overall). Reid was also the most efficient shooter for the Rebels last season, knocking down a team-high 40.2 percent of her field goal tries.

CLUTCH FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE
Freshman and Pearl, Mississippi native Jayla Alexander has been money from the free throw line, currently leading Ole Miss in free throws (31) and percentage (.886).

Alexander has been a key reserve off the bench, scoring 101 of her 119 points off the bench -- including 52 points in a four-game stretch from Nov. 15 to Nov. 26. Alexander went off against New Orleans, more than doubling her previous career high of 10 points with a 21-point outing against the Privateers on a 5-of-8 clip from beyond the arc. She followed that up with an 11-point performance at Southern Miss and a 13-point outing against Sam Houston State.

Alexander, the No. 1 rated recruit out of the state of Mississippi last year, has played at least 18 minutes in each game this season, currently ranking second among SEC freshman at 29.3 minutes per game.

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

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Players Mentioned

Jayla Alexander

Dominique Banks

Deja Cage

Sarah Dumitrescu

Iyanla Kitchens

Torri Lewis

Mimi Reid

Taylor Smith

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