Ole Miss Rebels 95, Sam Houston State, 61

HUNTSVILLE, Texas - All-SEC guard Bianca Thomas finished with a game-high 25 points and tallied 10 rebounds to record her second consecutive double-double to lead Ole Miss to a lopsided 95-61 victory over Sam Houston State Tuesday afternoon from Johnson Coliseum.

Thomas was one of three Rebels to post a double-double and was one of five starters to finish in double figures. Ole Miss hadn't had all five of its starters score in double figures since downing Vanderbilt 76-66 Jan. 7, 2007.

Senior forward Katorra Lewis finished with 14 points and a career-high 10 rebounds to collect her first career double-double in helping the Rebels hold a 42-26 advantage in points in the paint and a 28-6 edge in second chance points. Fellow senior forward Elizabeth Robertson picked up her second career double-double after recording 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Shantell Black scored 14 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists, while junior guard Kayla Melson tallied 13 points and nine assists, upping her season total to 20 helpers over the first two games.

Sam Houston State forward Whitney Smith led the Bearkats with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Brittany Brooks finished with 13 points and three assists.

Ole Miss (2-0) jumped out to an early 22-10 lead in the first four minutes of the game as the Rebels hit four of their first five shots, which included a pair of three-pointers from Robertson. The Rebels built their lead to 19 points midway through the half and would go on to lead by as many as 22 points in the stanza.

The Rebels shot a 45.0 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from the field in the first half and limited Sam Houston State to just 12 made field goals.

In the second half, Ole Miss continued to pull away and lead by as many as 42 points. In their two games thus far this season, the Rebels are winning by an average margin of victory of 36 points and have now won 24 straight games when scoring at least 80 points.

Ole Miss returns to action Friday at 11 a.m. when the Rebels welcome Arkansas-Pine Bluff to Tad Smith Coliseum for the team's annual School Day Game.

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Women's Basketball Dominates Jackson State 79-39 in Home Opener
Senior Dedrea Magee and junior Tierney Jenkins led a balanced Tide offense with 10 points each

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The women's basketball team opened up its home slate with commanding 79-39 victory over the Jackson State Lady Tigers at Coleman Coliseum on Tuesday.

Senior Dedrea Magee and junior Tierney Jenkins scored 10 points apiece to lead a balanced Crimson Tide scoring attack that saw all 13 players get on the board. Junior Varisia Raffington and redshirt freshman Candace Sykes each had nine points while junior LaToya King had five points and six assists.

Alabama improves to 2-1 on the season, while Jackson State dips to 1-1 overall.

"I thought we really needed a game like this that we had tonight," head coach Wendell Hudson said. "We got the chance to play a lot of people. It was a fun game for us. We had 19 assists, and I don't care who you're playing, if you're sharing the basketball that way, you should be playing pretty good. I'm real excited about the team effort, 59 rebounds, 19 assists, and like I said it doesn't matter who you're playing. That's a big part of playing together and growing up as a team."

Jackson State shot just 16-of-61 (26.2 percent) from the field, including 2-of-19 from behind the three point line. On top of that, Alabama forced 27 turnovers, which led to 26 points, and out-rebounded the Lady Tigers by a 59-35 margin, led by Jenkins' team-high of eight.

Additionally, the Tide held Jackson State scoreless for a combined 17:14 over the course of the 40 minute affair.

"I think everybody just stepped up their defensive intensity," Magee said. "We jumped in the passing lanes and helped each other out. That's what really got us up. We were able to get steals and get rebounds and push the ball. That helped us get easy transition points."

Alabama's bench accounted for 43 points on the night with Magee and Sykes leading the way with a combined 19 points. Sophomore Carmen McCoy scored six while freshman Celiscia Farmer, junior Katie Hancock and freshman Jocelyn Shaw each had four. Senior Courtney Strauthers added two.

"Before the game, Coach Hudson was telling us that we needed to share the ball and try to get as many assists as possible," Jenkins said. "That was our mindset coming into the game, getting the ball to whoever was open and get the rebound if they miss. We were thinking share the ball the whole time."

The Tide used a 22-6 run over the final 12:26 of the first half to seize control of the game after a tightly contested opening 7:34.

Alabama led 37-20 at halftime due in large part to its balanced offense and suffocating defense.

McCoy got things rolling with a turnaround layup to give Alabama a 17-14 lead. From there Magee, Sykes and Raffington combined for 13 of the Tide's next 18 points to push the lead to 35-14.

Jackson State was finally able to muster a basket with 2:12 remaining in the first half after the Tide held the Lady Tigers scoreless for a stretch of 10:29.

After starting the game 6-of-10 from the field, Jackson State missed 14 consecutive shots and turned the ball over 10 times during the Tide's deciding run.

"I didn't even pay attention to (the 22-6 run)," Jenkins said. "We were just running so much. Coach was saying `Push the ball' from the sideline. I didn't even realize until there was a timeout and I looked out the scoreboard. It was good because Coach Hudson wants us to push the ball all the time. We saw if we pushed the ball what will happen."

Alabama returns to the court Saturday when it travels to Nashville, Tenn. to take on Belmont. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. (CST).

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Balanced Scoring Attack Leads Cats to 3-0 Start
Freshman A’dia Mathies nets career-high 18 points while Dunlap charts third straight double-double with 12 points and 16 rebounds

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Playing its third game in five days, the Kentucky women’s basketball team improved to 3-0 for the first time since the 2005-06 season, defeating Morehead State Tuesday night, 72-55 in Johnson Arena.

Four Wildcats recorded double figures, including a career-high 18 points from freshman A’dia Mathies (Louisville, Ky.) and 15 points by junior point guard Amber Smith (Winter Haven, Fla.). Junior forward Victoria Dunlap (Nashville, Tenn.) followed with her third consecutive double-double with 12 points and a game-high 16 rebounds while junior Carly Morrow (Chattanooga, Tenn.) added 11 points.

"We are very happy to be 3-0 after playing three games in five days," UK Hoops Coach Matthew Mitchell said. "This game really concerned me because of Morehead’s style of play. They challenged us to make outside shots and I thought we were mentally tough even though you could tell we were tired and fatigued. I thought A’dia and Amber made some outstanding plays for us."

UK (3-0) jumped out to an 8-0 start to begin the game, paced by two of Mathies’ career-high three three-pointers. The Eagles (0-2) clawed back to take a two-point 14-12 lead before Rebecca Gray (Georgetown, Ky.) nailed a three-pointer to snap Morehead’s momentum. UK finally took a double-digit lead at the end of the half after Mathies hit two free throws and Dunlap scored on an offensive rebound.

In the second half, UK used an 11-0 run and held the Eagles without a basket for almost five minutes to take a 20-point 51-31 lead with 13:28 remaining. Morehead wouldn’t go down without a fight and pulled back within 10 (55-45) at the 7:29 mark. Smith and Mathies helped push UK’s lead back to 60-45 with back-to-back buckets while Morrow hit a key three-pointer as well. Dunlap recorded nine of 12 points and pulled down 10 of 18 rebounds in the second half and the Cats cruised to the final 17-point victory.

"I thought Amber and Victoria showed great leadership tonight," Mitchell said. "We started to panic a little bit there in the second half when they made that run but we regained our focus and kept guarding them. I’m really proud of our effort tonight."

MSU’s Chynna Bozeman, who Mitchell recruited to Morehead when he was the head coach from 2005-07, led the Eagles with 18 points.

The Wildcats return to Memorial Coliseum, Sunday, Nov. 22 vs. Chattanooga. Game time is 6 p.m. EST following UK volleyball’s SEC showdown with No. 13 Florida at 2 p.m.?EST. The volleyball team moved up to No. 10 nationally in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll this week and are looking for its first SEC title since 1988. All single-game ticket sales for Sunday will be good for both the volleyball and women’s basketball contests. For further details on Sundays’ matchups visit UKathletics.com.

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No. 13 Florida State 66, Florida 62.

Fla.(AP) -- Chasity Clayton scored 13 points, Christian Hunnicutt added 10 and No. 13 Florida State beat rival Florida 66-62 on Tuesday night.The Gators (1-1) led 62-60 with 2:02 to play, but the Seminoles scored the last six points of the game. Alexa Deluzio's jumper with 37.4 seconds left made it 64-62.

Jacinta Monroe finished with nine points and 11 rebounds for Florida State (2-0).

Sharielle Smith led Florida with 18 points and 13 boards. The Gators were just 9 of 31 from behind the arc. Jordan Jones added with 13 points and five assists for Florida. She had a chance to tie the game at 65, but her shot from the top of the arc clanged off the basket with 7 seconds left.

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No. 6 Tennessee 91, Texas Tech 53.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Taber Spani scored 18 points and Glory Johnson added 17 points to lead No. 6 Tennessee past Texas Tech 91-53 on Tuesday night.

Shekinna Stricklen added 16 points for the Lady Vols, who traveled to San Antonio with hopes of getting back to the Final Four city come April. They arrived with No. 1 Connecticut and No. 10 Texas, which played in the second game of the doubleheader.

Kierra Mallard scored 15 points for Texas Tech, which has lost all six meetings with Tennessee. The Lady Raiders shot just 30 percent from the field.

Angie Bjorklund hit four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points for the Lady Vols, who have now opened the year with two wins over Big 12 teams after beating No. 8 Baylor on Sunday.

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Auburn Comeback Falls Short In 66-52 Loss At Temple

PHILADELPHIA - The Auburn women's basketball team suffered its first setback of the season Tuesday as the Tigers fell 66-52 to Temple at McGonigle Hall in Philadelphia. Down 19 at halftime, the Tigers rallied to cut the lead to nine at one point, but it was not enough as Temple held on for the win.

The Tigers struggled from the field in the first half, shooting 7-of-27 for 25.9 percent, but bounced back in the second half to shoot 16-of-28 to finish the game at 41.8 percent. Free throw shooting was also a concern for Auburn as the team connected on only three of its 13 attempts.

"The free throws are something we have to get control of," said head coach Nell Fortner. "If we hit our free throws then we are in this game late and have a shot at it."

Taking a young team on the road for the first time this season, Fortner said it can sometimes take them a while to get comfortable.

"The challenge of having a young team is they have to find themselves and they did not do that in the first half, but they did in the second half and did some good things," said Fortner. "I thought we came back and fought hard in the second half. We are young, there is nothing you can do about that, but I thought they got some very valuable minutes tonight."

Alli Smalley led Auburn in the game with 19 points and four assists. Freshman point guard Morgan Toles tallied nine points and eight assists while also leading the team in rebounding with six.

One of the keys to the game in the second half was senior KeKe Carrier, who came off the bench for 12 points, eight in the second half, two blocks and two steals.

"Because of her size, KeKe is hard for a lot of teams to control," said Fortner. "When she is playing under control and with confidence, she can do some really good things and she did tonight."


The Owls jumped out to a quick lead to start the game, holding a seven-point advantage 6:29 into the game. Temple extended the lead to double digits with 8:20 left in the opening period before closing out the half with the 34-15 advantage.

Temple took its largest lead of the night at the 19:21 mark of the second half, taking a 21-point, 36-15 lead after a Kristen McCarthy layup. But, Auburn responded with a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 14 at the 16:44 mark. Toles accounted for five of the nine points in the run.

The Tigers continued to chip at the lead and cut it to single digits at the 8:54 mark with Temple holding a nine-point, 53-44 lead. That would be as close as Auburn would get as Temple pulled out the 14-point win.

Auburn out-scored Temple in the second half, 37-22, after trailing by 19 at the half. The Owls won the rebounding battle, 45-31, and forced 23 Auburn turnovers by way of 12 steals. For the game, Temple shot 28-of-61 from the field for 45.9 percent.

Auburn returns to action Thursday as the Tigers host in-state rival Alabama A&M. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. from Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.











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