Game Three - at Ole Miss Game Notes (.pdf)

MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women’s basketball team will head out on the road for the first time this season when the Lady Jags travel to Oxford, Miss., to take on Southeastern Conference foe Ole Miss.

“Whenever you go into an SEC building, you know that you are going up against a tough challenge,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri.  “Ole Miss has some really nice components to their squad.  They have a great point guard in (Valencia) McFarland and a very gifted five-player in (Nikki) Byrd.  They also have some really nice, diverse parts around those two players.  As a team, they present us with problems that we will have to be able to solve.  For us, our intention is to go in there and play as hard as we can and hope that the effort we give will be good enough, so that at the end of the game, we have a chance to win.”

Tip-off versus the Rebels set for 4:30 p.m. at the Tad Smith Coliseum.  Live stats and web streaming of the contest between USA and UM is available at www.usajaguars.com.

South Alabama (2-0) enters the contest versus Ole Miss coming off its second-straight victory over a defending conference champion.  On Tuesday, the Lady Jags rallied from a five-point second half deficit to defeat defending SWAC champ Southern at the Mitchell Center.

Trailing 33-28 with 17-and-a-half minutes to go, junior guard Camille Reynolds sparked the USA rally as she recorded nine-straight points, including a three-pointer from the left wing to cap off the 9-0 run and give the Lady Jags a 37-33 lead.  Reynolds - who was coming off a 31-point outing versus Central Florida over the weekend - had been held scoreless during the first half, but the Rathdrum, Idaho, native was a perfect 6-for-6 in the final period of play to register all 14 of her points.

Reynolds leads the club offensively with 22.5 points per game.  She is also knocking down a blistering 66.7 percent (16-of-24) of her shots from the field, including 85.7 percent of her three-point attempts (6-of-7). Reynolds leads the conference in three-point shooting and is second in both scoring and field goal percentage.

Junior guard Mary Nixon is second on the team in scoring with 9.5 ppg.  The Pensacola, Fla., native is also pulling down five rebounds per outing - tied for second with Cylenthia Kennon on the squad.  Taylor Ammons leads the team in that category with 7.5 per contest.  

Last season, Ammons recorded some of her best outings against USA’s four SEC opponents, as she averaged 10.5 ppg and 9.3 rpg, while shooting 46.9 percent from the floor in those games.  

Ole Miss (1-1) comes into Friday’s match up after falling on the road at Lamar, 67-58.  Versus the Cardinals, the Rebels held an early five-point lead a little over three minutes into the game, but over the next seven-plus minutes, Lamar went on a 19-5 run to claim a nine-point advantage (26-17).  

UM would cut the lead to two at the break and get as close as five late in the game, but that was as close as the Rebels get, before falling by nine.  Sophomore guard Valencia McFarland led all-players with 18 points - 13 of which came in the second half.  Nikki Byrd was 5-for-10 from the field and chipped in with 11 points and nine rebounds.  Pa’Sonna Hope pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds of her own for the Rebels in the loss.  

The difference in the game was between the two club’s bench production, where Lamar held a 28-19 advantage.

Ole Miss is led offensively by McFarland’s 13.5 points per game - tied for 15th in the SEC.  McFarland - a preseason second team all-SEC selection by both the coaches and the media - has also done a solid job of distributing the ball as she is averaging 4.5 apg.  

Byrd is also averaging double digits, coming into play with 10.5 ppg.  She is tie with Hope for the team lead on the glass with 7.0 rebounds per outing.  The duo is also tied for 11th in the conference in that same category.

Maggie McFerrin is the long-range threat for the Rebels as she as connected on 71.4 percent of her attempts from the arc early in the season.  That percentage is second-best among fellow SEC competitors.

Ole Miss is 1-0 at home this season and fifth-year head coach Renee Ladner will be going for her 60th win at Ole Miss versus the Lady Jags.  

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com.  Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

NOTES: The meeting between South Alabama and Ole Miss will be the fifth in the all-time series between the two clubs.  The Rebels picked up wins in the first two meetings of the series, but in the last two meetings, South Alabama has captured 62-61 overtime victory over the Rebels at the Central Florida Holiday Classic in Orlando, Fla., back on Dec. 21 of the 2001-02 season.  South Alabama also picked up a 67-60 win last season in Mobile.  USA is 2-2 all-time verus Ole Miss and 2-0 against the Rebels under Rick Pietri. The meeting between South Alabama’s Pietri and Ole Miss head coach Renee Ladner will be the second between the two coaches.  Pietri holds a 1-0 advantage over Ladner.  The Lady Jags have played twice on Nov. 18. In those two contests, USA holds a 1-1 record.  The last time USA played on this date was back during the 2005-06 season when the Jaguars began the season with a 66-52 victory at McNeese State.  USA is 1-0 on this date under Pietri.  The game against Ole Miss will mark the 104th time USA has faced an opponent currently in the Southeastern Conference. South Alabama is 18-85 all-time versus SEC members, while Pietri is 5-13 against the league.  The Rebels will be the first of two SEC opponents for the Lady Jags this season.  USA will also travel to Starkville, Miss., to take on Mississippi State on Nov. 30.   Over the 37-year history of the South Alabama program, Southeastern Conference arenas have not been too kind to USA.  In its previous 37 attempts to capture a SEC road win, USA as been successful just twice.  South Alabama’s last win in an SEC arena came back on Jan. 9, 1986 when USA won at Florida (71-64).  The Lady Jags’ only other victory at an SEC arena came on Dec. 15, 1979 - a 73-71 win at Mississippi State.

-- USA --