Ole Miss Takes on Tennessee at Rocky Top

By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com

The Ole Miss women’s basketball team will travel to Knoxville, Tenn. to take on No. 20 Tennessee Volunteers in an SEC tilt on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. on SEC Network+.

Ole Miss (7-5, 1-5 SEC) heads into Thompson-Boling Arena to take on a red-hot Lady Vols squad. The Rebels are coming off of a 78-68 loss to the Florida Gators.

A tough third quarter proved to be the difference as the Rebels went into the locker room with a 37-33 lead prior to a 10-0 run by Florida. Ole Miss was unable to recover, and the Gators won the quarter 25-12.

“At halftime, we talked about the next three minutes being crucial,” head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said. “We’re going to either take the lead or get smacked in the face. We have to learn through adverse moments. That’s just what has to happen.”

This season, Ole Miss currently leads the SEC and ranks 14th nationally with an average of 17.5 assists per game, helped greatly by five games of 20 or more assists and seven of at least 19.

Junior redshirt Mimi Reed ranks second in the conference and 33rd nationally at 5.1 assists per game. Compounded with an average of 19.5 turnovers forced on defense against 15.4 Rebel turnovers, Ole Miss currently ranks third in the SEC in assist/turnover ratio at 1.1.

The Rebels are tallying an assist on 63% of their made field goals.

Tennessee enters with a 10-3 overall record and a 4-1 mark in conference play. The Lady Vols are coming off a 70-53 victory over No. 12 Kentucky on Sunday.

This season, Tennessee is led in scoring by Rae Burrell who averages 16.5 ppg and is the top three-point shooter at a .455 percentage. The top rebounder Rennia Davis pulls down 9.2 boards a game.

Tennessee’s defense leads the league in holding its opponents to .341 FG defense percentage and is second in scoring defense at 58.3 PPG and rebounding at a +15.5 margin.

When the ball is tipped off it will be the 57th all-time meeting between the two schools. Ole Miss trails the Lady Vols 48-8 in the series all-time. Tennessee has a current four-game winning streak. In the last meeting, Tennessee won 77-66 in Knoxville.