Rebels Head to Tennessee Thursday Night

			OLE MISS (7-20, 0-14 SEC) at TENNESSEE (18-9, 8-6 SEC) Thursday, Feb. 27 • 6 p.m. • Knoxville, Tenn. Thompson-Boling Arena (21,678)
Watch • Live Stats • Listen Ole Miss Game Notes (PDF) • Tennessee Game Notes • SEC Game Notes

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Ole Miss women's basketball hits the road for the final time in the 2019-20 regular season, heading to Tennessee to take on the Lady Vols on Thursday night.

TEAM FACTS

Ole Miss Rebels (7-20, 0-14 SEC)
Head Coach: Yolett McPhee-McCuin • 2nd Season at Ole Miss (16-42) • 110-105 career record (7th Season)

Tennessee Lady Vols (18-9, 8-6 SEC)
Head Coach: Kellie Harper • 1st Season at Tennessee (18-9) • 303-217 career record (16th season)

ON THE AIR

Television/Online: SEC Network +
Play-by-Play: Andy Brock
Color: Madison Blevins

OLE MISS RADIO

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

SERIES AT A GLANCE
At Oxford: Tennessee leads 21-4
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: 84 (1/9/20 - at Oxford)
Most UT Points: 119 (2/8/01 - at Knoxville)
Last 10 Meetings: Tennessee leads 9-1

SERIES NOTES vs. TENNESSEE

Series History
Tennessee leads, 47-8

Current Streak
Tennessee, 3

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

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

Last Meeting
Jan. 9, 2020
• L, 84-28, in Oxford

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

Last Time in Knoxville
Jan. 25, 2018
• L, 75-66

Last Win in Knoxville
Jan. 31, 1987
• W, 69-65
• Tennessee: Ranked No. 3
• Ole Miss: Ranked No. 8

SCOUTING TENNESSEE

Record
18-9, 8-6 SEC

National Rankings
AP Ranking: RV
Coaches Ranking: N/A

Last Game
W, 67-63, vs. Vanderbilt
• Top Scorers: Rennia Davis (18), Jordan Horston (16), Rae Burrell (12)
• DavisL 18 points, 10 rebounds
• Shot .355, allowing .403
• Both teams shot combined 5-of-26 (.192) from three
• Tennessee: 18-8 points off turnovers, 16-6 fastbreak, 25-4 bench

Notes
• RPI: 55
• Shooting .443, allowing .333
• Shooting .322 from three, allowing .277
• Scoring Margin: +11.3 PPG
• Rebounding Margin: +10.6/game
• Two with 100+ assists, three with 60+
• Leads SEC in rebounding (46.4/game) and assists (16.6/game)
• Ranks in the NCAA top-50 in: total blocks (2nd, 192), blocks per game (2nd, 7.1), rebounds per game (2nd, 46.4), defensive rebounds per game (3rd, 31.4), total rebounds (3rd, 1,255), rebounding margin (5th, +10.6), field goal defense (6th, .333), assists per game (23rd, 16.6), total assists (25th, 448), offensive rebounds per game (26th, 15.0), three-point defense (29th, .277), field goal percentage (32nd, .443) and scoring margin (37th, +11.3 PPG)

TENNESSEE PLAYERS TO WATCH

#0 Rennia Davis
•18.1 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 2.4 APG
• .478 FG, .310 3PT, .809 FT
• Leads SEC, 20th NCAA in total field goals made (184)
• 2nd SEC in overall scoring (18.1 PPG) and SEC-only scoring (19.8 PPG)
• Also SEC top-10 in: free throw shooting (4th, .809), rebounding (6th, 8.2/game), field goal shooting (8th, .478)
• 2nd in SEC-only free throw shooting (.830)
• Career vs. Ole Miss (3 games): 48 points (16.0 PPG), 17-of-25 FG (.680), 2-of-4 3PT (.500), 12-of-16 FT (.750), 21 rebounds (7.0/game), 7 assists (2.3/game), 2 steals (0.7/game), 1 block (0.3/game)
• 2020, vs. Ole Miss (Jan. 9): 17 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists

LAST TIME OUT (at MISSOURI)
A season-best offensive showing in the third quarter helped bridge the gap, but the Ole Miss women's basketball team was never able to overcome a slow first half as Missouri pulled away toward an 82-67 win on Feb. 23.

Missouri (8-19, 5-9 SEC) was able to stymie the Rebel offense to just 16 points and a 19.4 percent clip from the field in the first half, which would prove to be all the distance the Tigers would need. Ole Miss put together a splendid effort in the aforementioned third frame, scoring an SEC season-high 29 points on 12-of-22 shooting and a 5-of-9 line from beyond the arc, but was unable to slow down a Tiger offense that shot 51 percent overall.

"We just had an awful start," said Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin. "I thought we had a good gameplan, but we did not execute it in the first half at all. In the second half we scored 51 points, but we just couldn't get it going offensively in the first."

Ole Miss received two spectacular individual performances from freshman Jayla Alexander (23 points, five rebounds, two assists, 5-of-12 3PT) and sophomore Taylor Smith (21 points, one rebound, 3-of-7 3PT), who both scored career highs and combined for 44 of the Rebels' 67 total points. Both were instrumental in that third quarter run, scoring 22 of their 44 in that frame alone. The duo also combined for eight of the nine Rebel three-pointers on the evening.

For Smith, Sunday's contest was the latest in a recent string of offensive prowess. In her last four games (including Sunday) dating back to a Feb. 13 game at Florida, Smith is averaging 14.8 points per game, shooting 23-of-47 (.489) overall and 8-of-14 (.571) from beyond the arc. Prior to this timeframe, Smith was averaging 4.7 points per game on the entire season and had only hit three trifectas in her career.

The Rebels also received another strong performance from starting point guard Mimi Reid, who notched 15 points, seven assists, four rebounds and two steals in 38 minutes played. Reid has now scored in double digits in four straight for the first time in her career, and in that span she is averaging 14.0 points and 39.0 minutes per game.

TEAM NOTES

COACH YO VS. THE TOP-25
Being in the SEC means facing some of the toughest schools in the nation, and Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin has had a tough road through her first two seasons in Oxford. Coach Yo's Rebels have gone up against 12 nationally ranked squads in two years at Ole Miss, 11 of which have come in SEC play. Ole Miss has one win against those 12, a 55-49 upset over No. 16 Kentucky in Lexington on Jan. 13, 2019, which marked the first ranked road win by a Rebel team since 2011 and the first win at UK overall since 2007.

vs. Ranked Schools (First Year: 1-5)
#2 UConn - Nov. 22, 2018 (L, 90-50)
#16 Kentucky - Jan. 13, 2019 (W, 55-49)
#6 MSU - Jan. 27, 2019 (L, 80-49)
#20 Texas A&M - Feb. 3, 2019 (L, 72-60)
#12 S. Carolina - Feb. 7, 2019 (L, 76-42)
#6 MSU - Feb. 21, 2019 (L, 88-60)

vs. Ranked Schools (Second Year: 0-6)
#10 Texas A&M - Jan. 6, 2020 (L, 79-35)
#23 Tennessee - Jan. 9, 2020 (L, 84-28)
#9 MSU - Jan. 26, 2020 (L, 80-39)
#1 S. Carolina - Jan. 30, 2020 (L, 87-32)
#23 Arkansas - Feb. 16, 2020 (L, 108-64)
#14 Kentucky - Feb. 20, 2020 (L, 94-52)

OFF THE LINE
Ole Miss has proved difficult to damage from distance, holding opponents to five or fewer three-pointers in 18 of 27 games this season. The Rebels have been particularly stout from beyond the arc in the last month, stifling Alabama (3-of-20), Vanderbilt (3-of-8) and Florida (3-of-11) to a 9-of-39 clip (.231) in three straight from Feb. 2-13.

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.

In the Coach Yo era, three-point defense has been a point of emphasis, holding opponents to five threes or fewer in 35 of 58 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.

VARIETY IN THE STARTING LINEUP
Ole Miss has used 18 different starting lineups in 27 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.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

MIMI HEATING UP
Sophomore Mimi Reid has recently become an important scoring factor for the Rebels, averaging 14.0 points and shooting 42.1 percent overall in her last four games. Reid has been in double-digit scoring in each of those games with outings of 16 points at Florida, 13 points vs. No. 23 Arkansas,12 points vs. No. 14 Kentucky and 15 points at Missouri -- the first time in her career that she has done so four times in a row. Furthermore, Reid has hit 16 straight free throws, and in her last three games she is 16-of-18 (.889) from the charity stripe.

Reid has also been a steady force for the Rebels at point guard, leading Ole Miss and ranking seventh in the SEC with 3.8 assists per game.

DYNAMIC DUO IN SEC PLAY
Rebel junior Deja Cage and freshman Jayla Alexander have been the driving force for Ole Miss in conference play, currently combining for 44.8 percent of all Rebel points scored in SEC season. Additionally, the tandem have drained 52 of 72 Ole Miss threes in conference play, which comes to 72.2 percent. Individually during SEC season, Cage is averaging 11.7 points and 2.1 threes, while Alexander is averaging 10.3 points per game.

OH MY, SHE'S ON FIRE!
Junior Deja Cage has been a dynamic scorer for the Rebels, recording 17 different double-digit games and six 20-point games through 27 contests this season. Cage has also been one of the most consistent three-point shooters in the league, ranking fourth in threes per game (2.1).

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. She is one of just four Rebels in the last five years to have recorded a 30-point game.

OLD DOG, NEW TRICKS
Sophomore Taylor Smith was always known for her smooth mid-range jumper, but she has now developed that just a few feet backward into a deadly three-point shot. With just three trifectas in her career entering a Feb. 13 contest at Florida, Smith drained three from beyond the arc -- including two in a row -- to help stimulate what ended up as an electric outing for the Rebel offense. Smith kept it up against No. 23 Arkansas, going a perfect 2-of-2 from beyond the arc and hitting all six of her first shots, ending with 17 points. Smith followed that up with a 3-of-7 three-point shooting effort at Missouri as part of her career-high 21 points. In her last four games, Smith is averaging 14.8 points and 2.0 threes per game, while shooting .489 overall and .571 from three. Prior, she was only averaging 4.7 points per game.

Smith is a career 39.9 percent shooter overall, and her 11-of-31 clip from three in her two seasons sits at 35.5 percent. She only attempted one three during her freshman season.

BIG MINUTES FOR ALEXANDER
Freshman and Pearl, Mississippi native Jayla Alexander has been a key member on the floor for the Rebels in SEC play, currently ranking second among SEC freshmen on the year in minutes per game (31.6) and tying for the lead among freshmen in SEC-only play (34.6).

Alexander has become a staple in the starting lineup for Ole Miss, starting each of the last 16 games dating back to Dec. 20 after serving as a crucial reserve off the bench in her first 11 games as a Rebel. In that stretch, Alexander scored 101 points off the bench -- including 52 points in a four-game stretch from Nov. 15 to Nov. 26. Alexander went off against New Orleans with a 21-point outing against the Privateers on a 5-of-8 clip from beyond the arc. On the year, she has recorded 12 double-digit games, including six of her last 10 that was highlighted by a career-best 23 points at Missouri.

BANKS WITH THE REJECTION
Junior Dominique Banks is on pace for a historical season defensively. At her average of 2.0 blocks per game, she is on pace to rank on the Ole Miss single-season record in blocks with 59. Banks is currently the NCAA's 38th-best in blocks per game and No. 29 overall in total blocks (55).

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.

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

Mimi Reid

Taylor Smith

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