Valencia McFarland dribbles around a defender in a game earlier this season. Photo: Thomas Graning, The Daily Mississippian.
Anyone who has watched the Ole Miss women’s basketball team in the last week knows that the Rebels have been fighting until the buzzer sounds.
With a win over Mississippi State last week, and a close, hard-fought game lost to nationally-ranked LSU, the Rebs are making strides under first-year head coach Matt Insell.
However, the road doesn’t get any easier in the Southeastern Conference for Ole Miss. The Rebels will face their toughest opponent in No. 7 South Carolina tonight at 7 p.m. in Columbia, S.C.
South Carolina (18-2, 6-1 SEC) leads the SEC in multiple categories this year. The Gamecocks rank second in overall defense, first in scoring margin with a plus-21.5 average per game, first in field goal percentage while shooting 48 percent and first in defensive rebounds with 31.2 per game. Needless to say, the Rebels are in for a challenge.
The Gamecocks’ two losses came on Dec. 18 to No. 14 North Carolina and Jan. 16 to No. 25 Texas A&M.
Ole Miss (10-11, 1-6 SEC) is averaging 75.2 points per game, fifth best in the SEC.
However, the Rebels rank last in the league in scoring defense, giving up 73.9 points per game.
Impact Players
Ole Miss: Senior guard Diara Moore has been on a roll lately. After leading the Rebels in scoring against LSU, she has definitely been a huge scoring lift next to senior point guard Valencia McFarland and junior forward Tia Faleru. McFarland will have a tough challenge in this game.
The Rebels will need Moore to score in double figures if the Rebs have a chance of keeping up with South Carolina.
South Carolina: Sophomore point guard Tiffany Mitchell has been the leader for the South Carolina. With an average of 15.3 points and 3.5 assists, Mitchell has been fantastic this season. Ole Miss head coach Matt Insell claims that McFarland is the best point guard in the SEC. With a tough challenge against Mitchell, we will see if McFarland can back up Insell’s words.
For continuing coverage of Ole Miss women’s basketball, follow @browningstubbs and @thedm_sports on Twitter.
— Browning Stubbs
bbstubbs@go.olemiss.edu
