Ole Miss faces tough foe today

By By Tony Krausz / assistant sports editor
Feb. 12, 2004
The Ole Miss women's basketball team will put its three-game winning streak on the line at home today.
The Lady Rebels (15-8, 6-3 Southeastern Conference) host the Auburn Lady Tigers (18-5, 6-3 SEC) in a 7 p.m. contest at the Tad Smith Coliseum.
Ole Miss comes into today's game off its second win of the season over in-state rival Mississippi State University.
Last Sunday's 78-62 win marked the first time the Lady Rebels, who defeated MSU 69-60 on Jan. 18, swept the Lady Bulldogs since the 1995-96 season.
The Lady Rebels will need to keep their focus against the Lady Tigers today.
Auburn enters the road contest riding a two-game winning streak, and the Lady Tigers are tied with the Lady Rebels for fourth place in the SEC.
A mere three-tenths of a point separate Ole Miss and Auburn in scoring offense. The Lady Rebels are tied for second in the league in scoring with Florida, averaging 74.3 points per game, and the Lady Tigers are scoring at a 74 points-per-game clip.
Auburn is tops in the conference on defense, allowing just 51.9 points per game, and Ole Miss is ranked ninth defensively, giving up 67 points a contest.
Following today's game, the Lady Rebels will hit the road for a Sunday afternoon contest against Georgia.
Ole Miss is set to tip off against Georgia (16-6, 5-4 SEC) at 1:30 p.m. in Athens Georgia.
MSU (9-12, 6-2 SEC) will try to mellow the anger of its coach in the team's contest today.
Lady Bulldogs coach Sharon Fanning questioned her team's maturity following their loss to the Lady Rebels last Sunday.
MSU doesn't face an easy challenge, as the squad tries to restart the two-game winning streak it had coming into the game against Ole Miss.
The Lady Bulldogs host No. 20 Florida (16-5, 6-2 SEC) at 7 p.m. today.
The Lady Gators enter the contest riding a five-game winning streak, and the team is lead by senior Vanessa Hayden, who is second in the league in scoring (19 points per game) and tops in rebounding (11.7 rebounds per game).
MSU follows today's game with a road trip to Lexington, Ky., to take on Kentucky (9-13, 1-8 SEC) in a 2 p.m. game on Sunday.
The University of Southern Mississippi women's basketball team will close out its home schedule in the next four days.
The Lady Eagles (14-8, 2-7 Conference USA) host Cincinnati (11-12, 2-7 C-USA) at 7 p.m. Friday.
USM will try to break a three-game losing skid against Cincinnati, which won its last contest against 69-58 over the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The Lady Eagles will wrap up their regular-season home schedule against Louisville (14-8, 6-3 C-USA) at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.
In Southwestern Athletic Conference play around the state, the first-place Jackson State Lady Tigers (16-5, 9-2 SWAC) travel to Prairie View A&M (4-14, 2-8 SWAC) for a 5:30 p.m. game on Saturday.
The Lady Tigers stay on the road for their next contest taking on Texas Southern (7-11, 5-5 SWAC) at 5:30 p.m. Monday.
Alcorn State (8-12, 6-5 SWAC) meets in-state rival Mississippi Valley State (5-14, 3-8 SWAC) at 5 p.m. Saturday at home.
The Lady Braves host Arkansas-Pine Bluff (2-18, 1-10 SWAC) at 5:30 p.m. Monday, and the Lady Devils will hit the road to play Southern (9-10, 7-4 SWAC) at 5:30 p.m. on Monday.