FROM AUBURNTIGERS.CSTV.COM

Feb. 24, 2010

Auburn at Ole Miss Game Notes

GAME 28

[NR/NR] Auburn (13-14, 4-10 SEC) at [NR/NR] Ole Miss (15-12, 6-8 SEC)

When: Thursday, February 25 • 7 p.m. CT
Where: C.M. Tad Smith Coliseum (9,061) • Oxford, Miss.
TV/Webcast: OleMissSports.com
Radio: WMXA 96.7; Andy Burcham (play-by-play), Arnika Edwards (color)
Audio Webcast: AuburnTigers.com
GameTracker: AuburnTigers.com
Series: Auburn leads, 27-21 (9-10 in Oxford)
Last Meeting: March 6, 2009 - 71-65, AU in North Little Rock, Ark.
Last Meeting in Oxford: Feb. 21, 2008 - 76-68, UM
Up Next: Auburn will wrap up the regular season with a home game against #16/14 Kentucky at 2 p.m., Sunday at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum

AUBURN - The Auburn women’s basketball team (13-14, 4-10 SEC) will go for the sweep of the state of Mississippi Thursday as the Tigers travel to Oxford, Miss., for a 7 p.m. game against Ole Miss (15-12, 6-8 SEC) at the C.M. Tad Smith Coliseum. Auburn faces the Rebels after defeating Mississippi State, 50-36, last weekend.

The win at Mississippi State broke a four-game losing streak for the Tigers and put Auburn within a game of .500 on the season. With only two regular-season games left, there is a premium at being .500 as it is a requirement to make the WNIT.

“We have to have a few more wins, but we are always looking to win,“ said Auburn head coach Nell Fortner. “We don’t talk about the postseason, though, we are just looking to win. We know that we want to play postseason, but we are not talking about it, we are just trying to focus on the next opponent.“

After shutting down MSU’s Alexis Rack last Sunday, the second-leading scorer in the Southeastern Conference, Auburn will get a shot at the top scorer in Ole Miss’ Bianca Thomas. Thomas averaged 20.0 points per game last season against Auburn, including a 28-point performance in the regular-season meeting in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.

“Ole Miss is a very good team and it is senior night, so here we go again,“ said Fortner. “Ole Miss has a tremendous shooter in Bianca Thomas, the conference’s leading scorer, and she has just lit us up in the past. We are trying to be very focused on her not having one of those kind of nights.“

Ole Miss enters the Auburn game on a four-game losing streak after dropping decisions to Tennessee (61-58), Mississippi State (73-54), Arkansas (67-59) and Vanderbilt (68-59). The last win for the Rebels came on Feb. 7 in a 102-101 triple-overtime win at LSU.

The Rebels are 8-4 at home on the season, including a 4-3 mark in SEC games. The last conference home win came on Jan. 21 in a 66-58 win over in-state rival Mississippi State.

Thomas leads the team with an SEC-leading 20.6 points per game along with her team-high 5.4 rebounds per game. Junior guard Kalya Melson is right behind her with 13.4 points per game and an SEC-best 6.0 assists per game.

Two other players are near double figures as Elizabeth Robertson averages 9.6 points per game, followed by Shantell Black with 9.5. Black is also second on the team in assists, fourth in the SEC, with 4.6 per game.

The Rebels rely heavily on the 3-point shot, averaging 7.5 per game. Thomas has 83 on the season, hitting them at 32.4 percent, while Robertson has 64 at 36.2 percent. Black is third with 35 3-pointers this season, but hits them at a team-best 39.3 percent.

As a team, Ole Miss shoots 42.5 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from 3-point range. The Rebels out-rebound their opponents by only 1.6 per game, but force 17.0 turnovers on the back of 8.1 steals per game.

Playing a team with a high-powered offense like Ole Miss, Auburn will have to rely on its defense to have a chance at the win. The Tigers posted their best defensive performance of the season at Mississippi State, holding he Lady Bulldogs to 36 points. It was the lowest scoring output by an SEC opponent for Auburn in more than seven years.

“We played some really good defense at Mississippi State, that was the biggest difference,“ said Fortner. “We did some things to mix them up. We played hard, we played very focused and it was good enough to win.“

Leading the way for Auburn this season is junior Alli Smalley with 15.0 points per game, ranking sixth in the SEC. Right behind her is senior KeKe Carrier with 12.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game. Carrier ranks in the top 15 in the SEC in all three categories, including a third-place position in blocks.

Since the start of SEC play, freshman Morgan Toles has stepped up her role, averaging 7.6 points and 4.6 assists per game. She posted a career-best 10 assists against Georgia. Redshirt junior Jordan Greenleaf is averaging 6.9 rebounds and 7.4 points in SEC play. She is also making a case for All-Defensive team as she ranks 8th in steals (1.6) and T12th in blocks (0.9) in SEC-only games.

The Tigers average shooting 41.4 percent from the field and 31.5 percent from 3-point range. Auburn out-rebounds its opponents by 5.3 per game. AU also averages 4.9 blocked shots per game.

Auburn holds a 27-21 all-time series lead against Ole Miss, but trails 9-10 when playing in Oxford. The Tigers have won two in a row and three of the last four meetings against the Rebels. AU has also won four of the last six meetings in Oxford.

Fans can follow the action with live stats and a video Webcast at http://www.OleMissSports.com. Tiger fans can also listen to the game live on WMXA 96.7 FM and AuburnTigers.com with play-by-play from Andy Burcham and color commentary from Arnika Edwards.

Auburn Women’s Basketball Quick Hitters
• Auburn is coming off a 50-36 win at Mississippi State; Ole Miss is coming off a 68-59 loss to Vanderbilt
• Auburn defeated Mississippi State 71-65 last season in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals
• Auburn lost the last meeting in Oxford, dropping a 76-68 decision to Ole Miss on Feb. 21, 2008
• Auburn leads the all-time series with Mississippi State, 27-21, trailing 9-10 when in Oxford
• Auburn is 65-46 all-time against teams from the state of Mississippi and is 25-31 when playing in Mississippi
• Auburn sophomore Chantel Hilliard is the lone Mississippi native on the roster, hailing from Biloxi
• Auburn head coach Nell Fortner was born in Jackson, Miss., and is a native of Laurel, Miss.
• Auburn has a 178-149 all-time record in the SEC, Nell Fortner has a 39-45 record in conference play
• Auburn is 3-2 all-time on Feb. 25; Nell Fortner is 1-0
• The Tigers are 145-83 all-time in the month of February, 21-22 under Fortner
• The Tigers are 4-8 on the road this season, 2-5 in SEC play
• Auburn is 77-2 under Fortner when scoring 70 or more points
• Nell Fortner is 2-1 all-time against Ole Miss head coach Renee Ladnder
• For Auburn player Jocelyn McGilberry is an assistant coach for Ole Miss
• Youth Movement: Six of Auburn’s nine active players are either freshmen or sophomores
• Freshman point guard Morgan Toles tallied 10 assists vs. Georgia, becoming the first AU freshman in 17 years to to so
• In the win over Liberty, Auburn’s front-court out-scored the back court for the first time since Feb. 10, 2008; the Tigers repeated the effort at South Alabama, vs. Valparaiso and at San Diego State
• Alli Smalley scored her 1,000th career point in the second half against Vanderbilt, becoming the 25th player to do so
• KeKe Carrier grabbed her 500th career rebound at LSU, Jordan Greenleaf grabbed her 500th rebound vs. Alabama
• For the first time this season, Auburn played with 10 players against Alabama
• Nicolle Thomas scored 27 points against Florida State, the highest point output for an Auburn freshman since 1987
• The Tigers tied the Auburn single-game blocks record against Alabama A&M with 17
• Freshman Morgan Toles and sophomores Chantel Hilliard and Parrisha Simmons earned their first career starts in the season-opener against Troy; freshman Nicolle Thomas earned her first career start against Alabama A&M
• Morgan Toles and Nicolle Thomas started against Alabama A&M, marking the first time for Auburn to have multiple freshmen starters since March 3, 2006 against Tennessee in the SEC Tournament (Boddie, Bonner, Carrier)
• KeKe Carrier, Auburn’s lone senior, started against Alabama A&M - her first since Feb. 11, 2007
• The Tigers are beginning their final season in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum before moving to the new Auburn Arena
• Auburn was picked eighth in the SEC Preseason Media and Coaches’ polls, LSU (media) and Tennessee (coaches) were picked to win the league this season
• Alli Smalley was picked the the Coaches’ Preseason All-SEC Second Team
• Nell Fortner is beginning her sixth season at Auburn, marking her longest tenure at any job
• The Tigers welcome four newcomers: Blanche Alverson, Morgan Toles, Nicolle Thomas, Pascale West
• Auburn begins the season with 6-7 KeKe Carrier and 6-8 Pascale West, two of the three tallest players in the SEC
• AU is without Reneisha Hobbs after suffering an ACL injury, leaving the Tigers with a roster of 10
• Auburn will be a first- and second-round host of the 2011 NCAA Tournament in the new Auburn Arena

NEXT UP FOR THE TIGERS
Auburn will wrap up the regular season with a 2 p.m., Sunday home game against #16/14 Kentucky.

QUICK HITS
Auburn is in its 39th season of women’s basketball and sports an all-time record of 778-343… AU has made 18 NCAA Tournament appearances, two WNIT appearances and three Final Fours in the program’s history… Head Coach Nell Fortner is in her sixth season at Auburn with a 131-82 career record and a 114-71 record on the Plains… The Tigers are coming off a 30-4 season in 2008-09 with their first SEC title in 20 years and its second NCAA Tournament appearance in as many seasons.

AUBURN-OLE MISS SERIES
This will be the 49th meeting between Auburn and Ole Miss with AU holding a 27-21 series advantage. Ole Miss leads the series 10-9 when playing in Oxford. Auburn has won two in a row and three of the last four meetings against the Rebels. The Tigers have also won four of the last six meetings in Oxford.

LAST TIME AGAINST OLE MISS (March 6, 2009)
SEC Player of the Year DeWanna Bonner racked up 32 points on March 6 to become the all-time leading scorer ever at Auburn with 2,084 points as she led the top-seeded Tigers to a 71-65 win over No. 9 seed Ole Miss in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament in North Little Rock, Ark.

It was the first trip to the SEC semifinals for head coach Nell Fortner and the first for Auburn since 1997, the last time the Tigers won the SEC Tournament title.

For Bonner to claim the top spot in Auburn’s all-time scoring list, the senior from Fairfield, Ala., needed 16 points entering the game to tie Becky Jackson’s (1980-84) 2,068 career points and had 14 points by halftime.

It did not take long once the second half started as her running jump shot at the 16:44 mark tied Jackson’s 2,068. On the very next Auburn possession, Bonner knocked down an 18-foot jumper right in front of the Auburn bench for her 2,070th career point and sole possession of the record.

As a team, Auburn shot 45.8 percent from the field on 27-of-59 shooting while Ole Miss hit 40.9 percent on 27-of-66 shooting. Both teams struggled at the free throw line with Auburn knocking down 56.0 percent, followed by 50.0 percent from the Rebels.

Whitney Boddie picked up her ninth double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 assists. She also tallied three steals in the game.

LAST TIME AGAINST OLE MISS IN OXFORD (Feb. 21, 2008)
Auburn cut a 13-point Ole Miss lead to four in the final six minutes of play Feb. 21, 2008 at Tad Smith Coliseum in Oxford, Miss., but the Tigers were never able to regain the lead, as they fell to Ole Miss 76-68.

Sherell Hobbs led Auburn with 25 points, and DeWanna Bonner picked up her 11th double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

Ole Miss’ Elizabeth Robertson and Bianca Thomas came up big for the Lady Rebels, combining for 30 points off the bench.

Auburn found a rhythm with 11 minutes left in the game when it went on a 10-2 run. With 6:48 left in the game, Hobbs hit a jumper to cut the Ole Miss lead to just four at 54-50. The Tigers still trailed by just five points with 3:30 left when the momentum shifted back in Ole Miss’ favor . Robertson was fouled while sinking a crucial three point shot, and finished off the four-point play with a free throw to push the lead to nine.

Auburn was determined to not give up and made one more run at the win. The lead was once again cut to four with 31 seconds left on the clock after a Hobbs trey, but time ran out on Auburn’s fight as the Lady Rebels clinched the victory by sinking five-of-six free throws down the stretch.

LAST TIME OUT FOR AUBURN
Alli Smalley scored 17 points as Auburn held one of the Southeastern Conference’s top offenses to 36 points, in a 50-36 victory at Mississippi State Feb. 21 in Starkville, Miss. The Lady Bulldogs were held to half of their season average of 72.8 points per game.

Auburn led throughout most of the first half and never trailed in the second half, avenging a 73-58 loss to Mississippi State in the SEC-opener.

The Auburn defense stepped up, holding Mississippi State to just five field goals in the second half after leading 22-19 at halftime. The Lady Bulldogs, who rank second in the SEC with 7.3 3-pointers per game, were held to just two in the contest.

Auburn shot just 36.4 percent from the field, but managed to hold Mississippi State to 28.0 percent, including 21.7 percent (5-of-23) in the second half.

The Tigers tallied 11 steals in the game, its highest steal total in SEC games, and forced 18 Mississippi State turnovers. Auburn also won despite being out-rebounded, 39-35, by MSU, marking the first time this season when losing the rebound battle.

Senior KeKe Carrier came off the bench to score 12 points in the game. Freshman Blanche Alverson and redshirt junior Jordan Greenleaf scored six points each while Morgan Toles tallied five points along with her game-high six assists. Greenleaf also led the Auburn defense with four steals in the game.

LAST TIME OUT FOR OLE MISS
Ole Miss led 53-51 over 20th-ranked Vanderbilt with 6:39 left to play, but the Commodores rattled off a 13-4 run en route to the 68-59 win in Oxford, Miss., on Feb. 21.

Bianca Thomas led the Rebels with 23 points while Kayla Melson added 17 points and five assists. Kayla Holloway scored 13 points along with a team-high eight rebounds. Jence Rhoads led Vanderbilt with 19 points.

Ole Miss led by as many as eight points in the first half, but was never able to pull away from the Commodores. VU came back to tie the Rebels and took their first lead of the game with 1:05 left in the first half.

Ole Miss shot 40.4 percent from the field and 23.5 percent from 3-point range. The Rebels struggled at the line, connecting on only 13 of 24 free throw attempts. Vanderbilt dominated the boards, taking a 40-28 rebounding advantage in the win.

AUBURN VS. THE SEC
Auburn is 178-149 all-time in Southeastern Conference Games. Head coach Nell Fortner holds a 39-45 record in the conference.

Nell Fortner VS. RENEE LADNER
This will be the fourth meeting between Nell Fortner and Ole Miss’ Renee Ladner with Fortner leading the series, 2-1.

Fortner is in her sixth season at Auburn and seventh overall as a collegiate head coach, holding a 131-82 career record. Ladner is in her third season at Ole Miss and holds a 46-43 record.

COACHING CONNECTION
A familiar face will be on the bench Thursday as former Tiger Jocelyn McGilberry, who is an assistant coach for Ole Miss, will coach against her former team. She played under Joe Ciampi at Auburn from 1986-89, going to the Final Four in 1988 and 1989.

McGilberry scored 462 points in her Auburn career and pulled down 350 rebounds. She was one of the team captains during her senior season and started all 34 games as Auburn made it to the NCAA Championship game.

ON THIS DATE. . .
When playing on Feb. 25, Auburn has a 3-2 all-time record. The Tigers’ last victory came in 2007, when Auburn traveled to Ole Miss to claim a 64-56 victory against the Rebels. The last time Auburn lost on Feb. 25 was in 2001 when the Tigers fell to Tennessee, 63-49. Nell Fortner is 1-0 on Feb. 25.

AGAINST THE MAGNOLIA STATE
Auburn holds a 65-46 record against teams from the state of Mississippi. Records against Mississippi teams: Delta State (1-2), Jackson State (3-2), Ole Miss (26-22), Mississippi College (0-1), Mississippi State (30-13), Mississippi University for Women (1-4) and Southern Mississippi (4-2).

When playing in the state of Mississippi, Auburn holds a 25-31 record and a 11-10 record when playing in Oxford. Records against teams when playing in Mississippi: Alabama [Starkville] (0-1), Delta State [Cleveland] (0-1), Florida [Starkville] (0-2), Florida [Oxford] (1-0), Georgia [Oxford] (1-0), Mississippi [Oxford] (9-10), Mississippi College [Clinton] (0-1), Mississippi State [Starkville] (12-9), Mississippi University for Women [Columbus] (0-3), Southern Mississippi [Hattiesburg] (1-2), Tennessee [Oxford] (0-1), Valdosta State [Cleveland] (0-1) and Vanderbilt [Starkville] (1-0).

MISSISSIPPI TIGERS
Auburn sophomore Chantel Hilliard, a native of Biloxi, Miss., will play in her home state for the second time this season as Auburn takes on Ole Miss.

Head Coach Nell Fortner is also a Mississippi native, hailing from Laurel, Miss. She was born in Jackson, Miss.

SMOTHERING DEFENSE
At Mississippi State on Feb. 21, Auburn held the Lady Bulldogs to just 36 total points. It was the lowest point total by an Auburn opponent since an 80-36 Tiger win at Sma Houston State on Dec. 19, 2007. It was the lowest by an SEC opponent since a 64-36 win at Arkansas on Jan. 26, 2003.

MOVING ON UP
Junior guard Alli Smalley (1,125 points) has been cruising up the career scoring rankings. She broke into the top 30 at the LSU game and three games later was ranked 24th all-time.

Entering Thursday’s game, she needs 11 points to tie Tiffany Krantz (1996-2000) for 22nd place. She is also one 3-pointer away from tying Samantha Williams for third all-time in career 3-pointers.

Senior KeKe Carrier made her way into the top 30 on Feb. 4 against South Carolina, scoring 14 points to tie Whitney Boddie (2005-09) for 30th all-time with 951 points. She is currently ranked in a tie for 27th with 983 points and is five points from tying Tara Williams (1995-97) for 26th.

PULLING DOWN THE BOARDS
With her last rebound of the first half at Mississippi State, senior KeKe Carrier jumped into the top-20 all-time at Auburn in career rebounds. She finished the game with seven boards, giving her 575 on her career. She is also one of 17 players that are ranked in the top 30 in scoring and top 20 in rebounding at Auburn.

YOUTH MOVEMENT
Of the nine active players on Auburn’s roster, six are freshman or sophomores. KeKe Carrier is the lone senior on the roster with Alli Smalley and Jordan Greenleaf filling out the active junior class.

The remainder of the roster is made up of three sophomores and three freshman. Auburn has started multiple freshmen in 10 games this season with Morgan Toles, Nicolle Thomas and Blanche Alverson earning the starting nod at least once.

GOING TO THE O-BOARDS
Auburn enters the game as the best offensive rebounding team in the SEC in SEC-only games, averaging 15.7 per game. Three of the top five individual offensive rebounders in the SEC are also Auburn players as Jordan Greenleaf ranks first (3.2), followed by KeKe Carrier (3.1) tied for second and Parrisha Simmons (2.9) tied for fourth. The Tigers have scored 176 second-chance points in SEC games, averaging 12.6 per game.

FILLING A VOID
Auburn lost four players from last season’s SEC Championship team, a group of seniors that accounted for 5,091 career points, 2,547 rebounds, 1,410 assists and 685 steals.

Only two teams in the country, UC Riverside (eight players, 5,903 points) and Maryland (six players, 5,33 points) lost more points. UC Riverside (3,219 rebounds) and Wintrop (six players, 2,560 rebounds) lost more rebounds. No team in the country lost more assists or steals.

DISHING IT OUT
In Auburn’s 67-53 win over Georgia, freshman point guard Morgan Toles handed out a career-best 10 assists. It marked the first time this season for an Auburn player to tally double-digit assists.

It is also the first time for an Auburn freshman to record double-digit assists since Kristen Mulligan handed out 11 against LSU on Jan. 24, 1993 - more than 17 years ago.

TOP FRESHMAN
Freshman point guard Morgan Toles is the top freshman in the SEC in the assist rankings (5th overall, 4.4 apg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (8th overall, 1.3).

Nationally, Toles ranks 12th in the country among freshmen (94th overall) in assists and 11th in the country (137th overall) in assist-to-turnover ratio.

EXCITING SEC GAMES
Entering the games of Feb. 24, there have a total of 84 SEC games played and 39 of them have been decided by single digits! That’s nearly half (46.4 percent) of all SEC games played this season. Each of the 12 league teams has been involved in at least three of those thrillers. There have been seven overtime games, with one needing triple-overtime and two needing double-overtime to determine the winner.

Auburn has had five games decided by three points or less in the SEC this season and accounts for two of the seven overtime games.

STARTING FRESHMEN
In the Nov. 19 win over Alabama A&M, Nicolle Thomas made her first career appearance in the starting lineup, joining fellow freshman Morgan Toles. With two freshmen starting, it marked the first time for Auburn to have multiple freshmen in the starting lineup since March 3, 2006 when freshmen Whitney Boddie, DeWanna Bonner and KeKe Carrier started in the SEC Tournament against Tennessee.

80 AND COUNTING
Auburn junior guard Alli Smalley earned her first collegiate start on Dec. 29, 2007 at Saint Joseph’s, the 14th game of her collegiate career, and has not left. Since then, Smalley has started in 80 consecutive games.

OFFENSE WINS GAMES
Auburn is 77-2 when scoring 70 or more points in the Nell Fortner era. The only times Auburn has lost when scoring at least 70 points was on Jan. 20, 2005 vs. No. 7 Tennessee, 71-81 and Feb. 19, 2009 at No. 18 Vanderbilt, 73-70. When scoring less than 70 points, Auburn is 36-69 during the Fortner era.

IN FEBRUARY
Auburn is 145-83 all-time in the month of February, including a 21-22 mark under Nell Fortner (records begin in 1978-79 season, not all dates provided prior to or during that season).