Rebels Renew Rivalry Against No. 9 MSU to Close Regular Season

			OLE MISS (7-21, 0-15 SEC) vs. #9 MISSISSIPPI STATE (24-5, 12-3 SEC) Sunday, March 1 • 1:40 p.m. • Oxford, Miss. The Pavilion at Ole Miss (9,500) Senior Day • Poster/Jersey Giveaway • Pregame Party
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OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss women's basketball will bid farewell to senior Torri Lewis before playing host to No. 9 Mississippi State during a busy day at The Pavilion on Sunday afternoon. Tipoff is set for 1:40 p.m. CT as part of SEC Network's Whiparound coverage.

PROMOTIONS
• Senior Day
• Torri Lewis Poster Giveaway (first 250 fans)
• Pregame Party: begins at 12:40 p.m. for fans in Ole Miss gear
• Replica Jersey Giveaway (first 1,000 fans)

TEAM FACTS

Ole Miss Rebels (7-21, 0-15 SEC)
Head Coach: Yolett McPhee-McCuin • 2nd Season at Ole Miss (16-43) • 110-106 career record (7th Season)

#9 Mississippi State Bulldogs (24-5, 12-3 SEC)
Head Coach: Vic Schaefer • 8th Season at MSU (218-61) • 298-171 career record (15th season)

ON THE AIR

Television/Online: SEC Network +
Play-by-Play: Will Kollmeyer
Color: Lindsay Roy

OLE MISS RADIO

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

SERIES AT A GLANCE
At Oxford: Ole Miss leads 29-14
At Starkville: Ole Miss leads 25-2 0
At Neutral Sites: Ole Miss leads 9-1
Longest UM Streak: 33 (1982-97)
Longest MSU Streak: 12 (2014-Present)
Biggest UM Win: 43 (2/27/85 - at Oxford)
Biggest MSU Win: 31 (2x, last 1/29/19 - at Starkville)
Most UM Points: 100 (3/4/94 - at Chattanooga)
Most MSU Points: 87 (1/27/02 - at Oxford)
Last 10 Meetings: MSU leads 10-0

SERIES NOTES vs. MISSISSIPPI STATE

Series History
Ole Miss leads, 63-35

Current Streak
Mississippi State, 12

First Meeting
Jan. 23, 1975
• W, 90-76, in Oxford
• First of 17 Rebel wins to begin the series

First SEC Meeting
Jan. 22, 1983
• W, 78-63, in Starkville

Last Meeting
Jan. 26, 2020
• L, 80-39, in Starkville

Last Time in Oxford
Feb. 21, 2019
• L, 80-66

Last Win
Jan. 23, 2014
• W, 87-85, in Oxford

Last Win in Starkville
Feb. 18, 2007
• W, 86-84, in OT
• Armintie Price Herrington: hit GW shot with 1.8 seconds left off an in-bounds pass from Ashley Awkward
• Became the fifth player in NCAA history with 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 300 steals and 300 assists (Price ended her career as one of just two with 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 400 assists and 400 steals)
• Ole Miss went on that year to advance to the Elite Eight

SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE

Record
24-5, 12-3 SEC

National Rankings
AP Ranking: #10
Coaches Ranking: #9

Last Game
W, 92-83, vs. Arkansas
• Top Scorers: Jessika Carter (21), Jordan Danberry (19), Aliyah Matharu (18), Andra Espinoza-Hunter (13), Chloe Bibby (11)
• Clinched No. 2 seed at SEC Tournament
• Out-scored Arkansas 53-32 in middle quarters
• Won points in paint 56-34
• Carter: 21 points, 11 rebounds
• Shot .578, allowed .469
• Shot .333 from three, allowed .393

Notes
• RPI: 12
• Only losses to No. 3 Stanford (67-62), West Virginia (71-65), No. 18 Kentucky (73-62) and Alabama (66-64)
• NCAA's No. 16 strength of schedule
• Shooting .474, allowing .394
• Shooting .322 from three, allowing .327
• Scoring Margin: +19.1 PPG (2nd SEC)
• Winning SEC games by +11.9 PPG
• Rebounding Margin: +2.9
• Leads SEC in shooting (.474)
• Ranks in the NCAA top-50 in: turnover margin (5th, +7.7), field goal percentage (9th, .474), scoring margin (9th, +19.1 PPG), scoring offense (11th, 79.7 PPG), free throw attempts (14th, 585), turnovers forced (15th, 21.1), total blocks (20th, 137), free throws made (21st, 399), total steals (29th, 278), blocks per game (30th, 4.7) and fewest turnovers per game (38th, 13.4).

MISSISSIPPI STATE PLAYERS TO WATCH

#5 Rickea Jackson
• 14.7 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 1.2 APG
• .477 FG, .400 3PT, .700 FT
• 10th SEC in scoring (14.7 PPG), and shooting (.477)
• 5th in SEC-only scoring (17.0 PPG)
• Ranks in the NCAA top-50 in: total field goals made (47th, 176)
• Jan. 26, 2020, vs. Ole Miss: 12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 4-7 FG, 1-2 3PT, 3-5 FT

#4 Jessika Carter
• 14.0 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 1.9 BPG
• .600 FG, .718 FT
• 3rd SEC, 10th NCAA in shooting (.600)
• T-3rd SEC in rebounding (9.1/game)
• 12th SEC in scoring (14.0 PPG)
• Also ranks in the NCAA top-50 in: offensive rebounds per game (18th, 4.1), total blocks (34th, 54), total rebounds (35th, 264), double-doubles (36th, 11), blocks per game (47th, 1.9)
• Jan. 26, 2020, vs. Ole Miss: 24 points, 11 rebounds, 1 block, 10-14 FG, 4-6 FT

#24 Jordan Danberry
• 12.3 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 3.1 APG, 2.5 SPG
• .520 FG
• 2nd SEC, 33rd NCAA in steals (2.5)
• T-6th SEC in shooting (.520)
• Semifinalist for Naismith Defensive Player of the Year

LAST TIME OUT (at TENNESSEE)
Ole Miss women's basketball nearly erased a 20-point first half deficit and drained a season-high 12 threes, but Tennessee was able to use its size and timely momentum swings to keep the Rebels at bay, 77-66, in Rocky Top on Feb. 27.

Tennessee (19-9, 9-6 SEC) took some licks early after Mimi Reid (21 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals) hit the first four Rebel buckets, but the Lady Vols responded with a big 15-1 run to close the first quarter. Tennessee was able to extend to a 33-13 lead by the 3:57 mark of the second quarter, but Ole Miss would not go quietly, hitting nine of its 12 threes in the back half to put a scare into the Lady Vols.

"Just extremely proud of our group," said Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin. "Last time we played vs. Tennessee we scored 28 points. It was a tough time for us as a program. The resiliency and character that our team showed the last five games, I've been extremely pleased. This was my first time here at this arena on the Summitt Court. Pat Summitt is someone that I grew up idolizing, and I felt her spirit the whole time."

The spirit was alive with Ole Miss in a tantalizing third quarter in which the Rebels hit five from beyond the arc and shot 46.7 percent overall. The Rebels were able to cut the Lady Vol lead to 45-42 at the 5:14 mark of the third thanks to three consecutive trifectas from junior Deja Cage, who ended up with 22 points on a career-high six threes made – the second-most made by any player in the conference during SEC play this season.

Cage wasn't alone, though, as Reid's 21 points stands as a career high, and Jayla Alexander (12 points, seven rebounds, three assists, one steal) and Taylor Smith (nine points, two rebounds, three assists two steals) each hit multiple three-pointers on the night.

Ole Miss actually won the second and fourth quarters, but the reemergence of national player of the year candidate Rennia Davis in the second half ended up being the difference in the game. The Rebels were able to stymie Davis to just two points in the first half, but Davis went off in the back half, ending up with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Davis also hit a crucial buzzer-beater three at the end of the third quarter that ended up being a key momentum swing for the Lady Vols.

"They were confident and expected shots to go in after they saw a couple fall in," McPhee-McCuin said. "Obviously, we wanted to hit the mid-range jumper and we wanted to be able to make shots from beyond-the-arc."

Tennessee ended the day shooting 43.1 percent from the field and won the rebounding battle, 45-27, but were held to just 5-of-18 from beyond the arc. The Rebels, meanwhile, were obviously strong in the second half, but the slow first quarter ended up being crucial by the final buzzer.

"We had a good feeling coming into the game, I just wish we hit some shots in the first quarter," McPhee-McCuin said. "But we didn't, and at the end of the day, we are going to continue to lay the foundation here at Ole Miss."

TEAM NOTES

OLE MISS VS. AP TOP-10
The Rebels have been able to snag 29 wins all-time vs. opposing teams ranked within the top-10 of the AP poll, the last coming on Jan. 21, 2016 vs No. 9 Kentucky in The Pavilion (73-65).

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 19 of 28 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 36 of 59 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 19 different starting lineups in 28 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

A FAREWELL TO AIR TORRI
Ole Miss says farewell to senior and three-point specialist Torri Lewis, who will play her final home game this Sunday against Mississippi State. Lewis, the last Rebel to have played in both Tad Smith Coliseum and The Pavilion at Ole Miss, concludes five seasons at Ole Miss having played in 107 games, in which she scored 463 points and hit 128 career three-pointers.

Lewis, who returned for her redshirt senior season at Ole Miss this year after sitting out 2018-19 due to the birth of her son, A.J., is a career 32.5 percent three-point shooter. In her career, 85.9 percent of all of her field goals have come from three-point distance.

Lewis shot a combined 11-of-28 (.393) from three-point distance in three games from Dec. 16-28 this year, 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.

In her career, Lewis owns 31 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 HEATING UP
Sophomore Mimi Reid has recently become an important scoring factor for the Rebels, averaging 15.4 points and shooting 43.6 percent overall in what has been the best offensive stretch of her career in her last five games. Reid has scored in double-digits in all five games (she had never done so in three straight games prior), and her recent offensive prowess was highlighted by a career-high 21 points at Tennessee on Feb. 27, the first time she has broken 20 points in her career. Furthermore, Reid hit 18 straight free throws across four games from Feb. 16-27, ending up with a 19-of-22 (.864) line in that stretch.

Reid has also been a steady force for the Rebels at point guard, leading Ole Miss and ranking eighth in the SEC with 3.8 assists per game. Reid also ranks sixth in the SEC in minutes per game (32.9), a number that increased dramatically in this recent five-game streak to 38.4 minutes 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 45.4 percent of all Rebel points scored in SEC season. Additionally, the tandem have drained 60 of 84 Ole Miss threes in conference play, which comes to 71.4 percent. Individually during SEC season, Cage is averaging 12.4 points and 2.4 threes, while Alexander is averaging 10.4 points per game.

OH MY, SHE'S ON FIRE!
Junior Deja Cage has been a dynamic scorer for the Rebels, recording 18 different double-digit games and seven 20-point games through 28 contests this season. Cage has also been one of the most consistent three-point shooters in the league, ranking fourth in threes per game (2.3).

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. Most recently, she hit a career-high six threes at Tennessee en route to a 22-point performance agains the Lady Vols, which tied for the second-most threes made by anyone in the conference during SEC play.

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 five games, Smith is averaging 13.6 points and 2.0 threes per game, while shooting .456 overall and .526 from three. Prior, she was only averaging 4.7 points per game.

Smith is a career 39.6 percent shooter overall, and her 13-of-36 clip from three in her two seasons sits at 36.1 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 (31.8) and leading all freshmen in SEC-only play (34.8).

Alexander has become a staple in the starting lineup for Ole Miss, starting each of the last 17 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 13 double-digit games, including seven of her last 11 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 58. Banks is currently the NCAA's 36th-best in blocks per game and No. 29 overall in total blocks (56).

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.

TWO NEW FACES
Ole Miss welcomed two new faces to the team this semester in the form of freshman early enrollee Caitlin McGee and former student manager Tootie Rankin.

McGee – a 6-1 forward out of Sandalwood High School in Jacksonville, Florida – graduated early this past December. She will sit out as a redshirt for the remainder of the 2019-20 season. A three-star recruit by ESPN as part of a 2020 Ole Miss class that ranks No. 1 in the SEC, McGee was a varsity letterwinner in both basketball and track & field while at Sandalwood. In her three-year career, she averaged 18.0 points, 12.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game. She is a three-time all-conference selection and a three-time first-team All-Area and All-City member.

Rankin, meanwhile, joins the active Rebel roster after serving as a student manager for the 2019-20 season. Rankin transferred to Ole Miss after two seasons at Southwest Mississippi Community College, where she played in 48 total games. Rankin saw her first action on Jan. 19 vs. Missouri and earned her first start at Auburn.

A biochemistry major, Rankin excelled at SWMCC, earning a 4.0 GPA. She was awarded the Lyceum Scholar Award from Ole Miss, given to 15 transfer students from across the country who must be excellent leaders who excel both in and out of the classroom.

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

Torri Lewis

Caitlin McGee

Tootie Rankin

Mimi Reid

Taylor Smith

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