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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels to Host South Alabama on Saturday
12/7/2017 | Women's Basketball
OXFORD, Miss. â€" Ole Miss will put its five-game winning streak on the line in another tough non-conference matchup against South Alabama at home on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT inside The Pavilion at Ole Miss.
TEAM FACTS
Ole Miss Rebels (7-1, 0-0 SEC)
Head Coach: Matt Insell • 5th Season • 65-69 career record (5th Season)
South Alabama Jaguars (5-2, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Head Coach: Terry Fowler • 5th Season (44-81) • 249-258 career record (19th season)
ON THE AIR
Television/Online: SEC Network + | Play-by-Play: Seth Austin; Color: Lindsay Roy
Radio: 105.1 / 105.5 FM | Play-by-Play: Graham Doty
Audio: RebelVision (OleMissSports.com)
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TEAM NOTES
REBS ON FIRE
Ole Miss has bounced back from a tough loss to Saint Louis on a neutral court at DePaul's Maggie Dixon Classic on Nov. 17 with an impressive five-game winning streak, that 79-64 loss to the Billikens remaining as the lone blemish on a strong 7-1 Rebel resume thus far.
During its winning streak, the Rebels are winning by an average of 21.2 points per game, which include wins over Delaware State (110-58, third-largest point total in Ole Miss history), reigning NCAA Tournament teams Troy (96-93) and Temple (64-48, on the road), perennial postseason player Middle Tennessee (65-56, on national TV) and Arkansas State (74-48).
Junior Madinah Muhammad has been unstoppable in this stretch, scoring 19.4 points per game on .405 overall shooting and a blistering .926 clip from the charity stripe.
LAST TIME OUT
Ole Miss cruised to a 74-48 victory over Arkansas State on Dec. 2, improving to 7-1 for the first time since 2008-09. The Rebel were paced by the first 30-point game at Ole Miss since 2015-16 with a 30-point outing by junior Madinah Muhammad, who set a new career-high in points for the third time this year. Freshman Promise Taylor recorded her first career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds to go along with her six blocks -- the most by a Rebel since Shawn Goff batted down six vs. Alcorn State on Nov. 24, 2008.
Ole Miss shot .458 from the field -- the seventh game out of eight this year that the Rebels have eclipsed 43 percent shooting -- while simultaneously holding the Red Wolves to a clip of .279, marking the sixth time this season that a Rebel opponent has shot 34 percent or worse.
FIRST RPI: OLE MISS RANKS #44
After playing a tough non-conference schedule through eight games this year, Ole Miss earned a ranking of No. 44 in the initial RPI report released by the NCAA this week. The Rebels are also receiving four votes in the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll.
OUT OF THE BLOCKS
Fast starts have been a hallmark of head coach Matt Insell's Rebel squads, and the 2017-18 team has been no different. However, this year's squad is off to the best start since 2008-09 at 7-1
A win vs. South Alabama on Saturday would push the Rebels to 8-1 for the first time since 2005-06. Ole Miss is currently one of 26 teams nationally to be 7-1 or better through at least eight games played.
FEARSOME DEFENSE
The Rebel defense has proved difficult to maneuver in the opening stages of the 2017-18 season, stifling opponents from the field. Ole Miss has held six of its eight opponents under 34 percent shooting, going 6-0 in such games. No Rebel opponent has eclipsed 50 percent shooting for a game, whereas Ole Miss has done so three times (going 3-0 in those games). Furthermore, the Rebels have held five of their eight opponents to under 30 percent three-point shooting. Ole Miss ranks fourth in the SEC with an opposing three-point clip of .285.
Ole Miss is holding opponents to a stingy .333 clip from the field, the second-best opponent percentage in the SEC and 14th-best in the NCAA.
THE BEST DEFENSE...
...is a good offense, and the Rebels possess a potent one -- even without senior and Preseason Second-Team All-SEC member Shandricka Sessom. Ole Miss currently averages 80.0 points per game -- the fourth-best average in the SEC and 36th-best in the NCAA at the moment -- which includes 82.3 PPG in wins and 80.4 in home games.
Furthermore, Ole Miss has a scoring margin of nearly 20 points right now at plus 18.9 PPG -- an average that increases to 19.6 at home and 23.7 in wins this year. That 18.9 margin ranks fifth-best in the SEC and 32nd best in the nation.
Junior guard Madinah Muhammad has accounted for 26.3 percent of Rebel scoring by herself, and that number increases at home (28.1).
CRASH THE BOARDS
Ole Miss has had a recent rebounding renaissance, starting with the second-half surge to lift the Rebels to a big road win at NCAA Tournament team Temple on Nov. 25. The Rebels rank third in the SEC in overall rebounding (43.0/game) and fourth in defensive rebounds (27.9/game)
Ole Miss has had at least three individuals with at least five rebounds in six of eight games played.
CAN'T MISS
The Rebels have been money from the field in the opening eight games of this season, shooting the fourth-best clip in the SEC and 24th-best in the nation at .464. Helping that is an impressive 16 quarters (out of 32 total) where the Rebels are shooting 50 percent or better.
HIGH-FLYIN' REB OFFENSE
The fast-paced Rebel offense has been difficult to slow down in the opening stages of the season, and it shows in where Ole Miss ranks in the SEC and nationally in some offensive categories:
Reb./Game - 43.0 (3rd SEC, 46th NCAA)
Scoring - 80.0 PPG (4th SEC, 36th NCAA)
FG% - .464 (4th SEC, 24th NCAA)
Margin - +18.9 (5th SEC, 32nd NCAA)
FT Attempts - 179 (41st NCAA)
GETTING TO THE LINE
After only being able to get to the line a total of 66 times in the first four games of the season, the Rebels have visited the charity stripe an impressive 113 times in the following four games. The recent surge in trips to the free throw line began with 37 against Troy on Nov. 21 -- the most since Ole Miss attempted 38 vs. Florida on Jan. 8, 2015. The Rebels also sank 29 of those 37 free throw attempts, the most conversions since hitting 25 that same game vs. Florida in 2014-15. Madinah Muhammad was 12-of-13 from the line in that game alone, the most in a game in the SEC this year and the most by a Rebel since Alissa Alston sank 12 vs. Auburn on Feb. 16, 2017.
The Rebels followed that up with a crucial game on the free throw line vs. Middle Tennessee, going 26-of-31. Much of that came from Alston, who went 14-of-16 -- the most makes since Tia Faleru hit 15 at Missouri on Feb. 15, 2015. Alston was just two shy of the single-game record set by Armintie Price at UAB in 2006-07.
BLOCK PARTY
Ole Miss has been a dominant force in shot blocking this season, thanks primarily to freshman center Promise Taylor. The Rebels rank ninth in the NCAA with 50 blocks this season, 26 of which come from Taylor, who ranks seventh nationally in shots blocked per game. The Rebels have blocked at least seven shots in a game four times this year.
Because of the surge in blocked shots, the Rebels -- at 6.3 blocks per game -- are currently on pace for 188 total blocks by season's end, destroying the current single-season record of 129 set in 1982-83.
FROM DOWNTOWN ... YES!
The Rebels have been on fire from three in the early part of this season, as they currently draining 7.0 treys per game (56 total). Eight different Rebels have drained threes this season, with 50 of those threes alone coming from Madinah Muhammad (25), Shandricka Sessom (15) and Torri Lewis (10). At their current pace of 7.0 threes per game, the Rebels are on pace to come near the single-season record for threes in a season with 210, potentially besting the 233 treys the 2009-10 squad sank. The second-most threes made in a season is 203 by the 1999-00 team.
RECORDS ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN
Ole Miss put on a dazzling offensive spectacle against Delaware State on Nov. 18, putting up the third-most points in a game ever while re-writing several other records in the process. The Rebels held a 64-19 advantage at halftime, the largest scoring margin in any half in school history (+45) and the second-most points scored in any half. Ole Miss was also tied for the ninth-largest win margin at +52 at the 110-58 final.
FATHER AND SON
The student became the teacher vs. Middle Tennessee on national TV on Nov. 29, with Ole Miss head coach Matt Insell earning his first-career victory over his father, MTSU head coach Rick Insell, in his fourth try. The duo constituted the first-ever meeting between a father and son in NCAA Division I history on Nov. 23, 2014 in Oxford. The elder Insell holds a 3-1 advantage in the series, taking the first contest, 71-65, before winning in the third round of the WNIT later that season, 82-70, and taking the return trip of the home-and-home in the opening months of the 2015-16 season, 84-75, in Murfreesboro.
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INDIVIDUAL NOTES
OH MY, SHE'S ON FIRE
Junior guard Madinah Muhammad has barely had a cold moment on the floor this season on the way to an incredible start as the top scorer for the Rebels through eight games.
Muhammad currently ranks second in the SEC and 22nd nationally at 21.1 points per game -- an impressive feat despite going scoreless in an eight minute outing at Temple on Nov. 25 while nursing an injury. Entering that game, she was the conference's top scorer at 24.6 PPG.
Other than that game, Muhammad has been unable to be held under 16 points scored, and has set new career-highs three separate times. She opened the season with five straight games in double-digits, the second streak in her career of at least five in a row (her career-long streak is six from Jan. 22 to Feb. 12 last season). Muhammad also scored three straight games with at least 20 points for the first time in her Rebel career during that time.
DON'T STOP ME NOW
Madinah Muhammad did something no Rebel had done in two seasons against Arkansas State on Dec. 2, dropping 30 points on the Red Wolves for a new career high and the first Ole Miss 30-point game since current junior Torri Lewis lit the net on fire for 36 points and 10 threes vs. New Orleans as a freshman on Dec. 14, 2015.
In eight games this year, Muhammad has scored 24 points or more.
SETTING MILESTONES
Madinah Muhammad is on pace to be one of the top scorers by the end of her Ole Miss career. The Chicago native just passed 700 career points scored, sitting now at 760 points after dropping 123 points in her first five games this season. At her current season pace of 21.1 points per game, Muhammad is on pace to reach 1,224 by season's end -- putting her well within the realm of becoming the 29th Rebel to score 1,000 points in a career. If she does, she will become the second junior in as many years to do so (senior Shandricka Sessom did so in 2016-17), and the third in the last six seasons (Valencia McFarland, 2012-13).
THE KID CAN PLAY
True freshman Promise Taylor has wasted no time in cementing herself as a valuable piece of the Rebel puzzle this season. Taylor has earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors twice this year, including this past week after averaging nearly a double-double with 10.5 PPG and 9.5 RPG vs. Middle Tennessee and Arkansas State.
Taylor has been dominant on both ends of the floor, currently ranking as the top freshman nationally in shooting percentage (.677; 2nd SEC, 5th NCAA) and blocks (3.3/game; 1st SEC, 7th NCAA).
ON PACE FOR GREATNESS
Freshman Promise Taylor is on pace to annihilate the single-season blocks record,. At her current pace of 3.3 per game, Taylor would have 98 total blocks by season's end -- dismantling the previous record of 67 set by Shawn Goff in 2007-08.
SLICE AND DICE
Junior point guard Alissa Alston knows how to distribute to the many scorers Ole Miss possesses, but this season she's beginning to shore up her scoring bonafides as a legitimate threat off the dribble. Alston has eclipsed the 20-point mark twice this season: a career-high 26 points vs. Troy and a team-leading 22 points in the nationally-televised win vs. MTSU on Nov. 29. She hasn't given up on her bread-and-butter, though, leading Ole Miss and the SEC with 5.7 assists per game. In her career, she has scored in double-digits and had at least five assists six times -- including twice this season.
Alston has a career-high 10 assists to her credit this year as well in the Rebels' record-breaking victory vs. Delaware State on Nov. 18. In her career, Alston has 158 assists (2.5/game).
HEARTBREAKING LOSS
Senior and Preseason Second-Team All-SEC member Shandricka Sessom tore her ACL during the closing minutes of the first quarter vs. Middle Tennessee on Wednesday, ending her season. Sessom, who was averaging 17.7 PPG entering Wednesday, will redshirt and return in 2018-19.
Sessom currently ranks as the 24th-best scorer in Ole Miss history with 1,131 career points scored.
TOURNAMENT TEAMS ON THE DOCKET
Ole Miss plays 12 schools in 2017-18 that advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2016-17. The Rebels came out victorious against the first, Troy (96-93), and won at Temple, 64-48.
Troy (Nov. 21, W, 96-93)
1st Round, lost to runner-up Mississippi State
Temple (Nov. 25, W, 64-48)
1st Round, lost to Oregon
Oregon (Dec. 17, in Eugene)
Elite Eight, lost to UConn
Texas Southern (Dec. 28, at home)
1st Round, lost to Baylor
South Carolina (Jan. 4, at home)
Defending NCAA Champions
Mississippi State (Jan. 11 away; Jan. 28 home)
Defending NCAA runners-up
Missouri (Jan. 18, at home)
2nd Round, lost to Florida State
Tennessee (Jan. 25, in Knoxville)
2nd Round, lost to Louisville
Texas A&M (Feb. 8, in College Station)
2nd Round, lost to UCLA
LSU (Feb. 15, in Baton Rouge)
1st Round, lost to Cal
Kentucky (Feb. 22, at home)
2nd Round, lost to Ohio State
Auburn (Feb. 25, in Auburn)
1st Round, lost to NC State
Follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissWBB, Facebook at Ole Miss WBB on Instagram at Ole MissWBB and on Snapchat with the handle @OleMissWBB. Fans can also follow Ole Miss women's basketball head coach Matt Insell on Twitter at @minsell.
