Alabama Women’s Basketball Hosts Ole Miss in SEC Home Opener on Thursday

Thursday, January 5

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

7 p.m. CT

Alabama

University of Mississippi

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Alabama Women’s Basketball Hosts Ole Miss in SEC Home Opener on Thursday

1/4/2017 2:41:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Crimson Tide and Rebels to tip off at 7 p.m. CT in Coleman Coliseum

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama women's basketball (12-2, 0-1 SEC) will play its Southeastern Conference home opener on Thursday, welcoming the Ole Miss Rebels (12-2, 1-0 SEC) to Coleman Coliseum. The game is slated for a 7 p.m. CT start on SEC Network +.

PROMOTIONS

$1 Night: The first 100 fans will have the opportunity to purchase $1 tickets as well as $1 hot dogs.
Callie's Place Pet Food Drive: For the next three home games, Alabama women's basketball will be collecting pet food for Callie's Place, a 501(c)(3) animal welfare organization set out to improve the lives of pets and people in West Alabama with an emphasis on giving un-nurtured, unloved animals a second, real chance. The goal is to raise 1,000 pounds of food by the Arkansas game on Sunday, Jan. 15.
8 Hoo's Q 30 for 30: If the team scores 30 points in the first quarter of the game, everyone in the stands will receive 30 percent off from Hoo's Q.
Tuscaloosa Toyota Season Long Giveaways: Throughout the season, Tuscaloosa Toyota will be giving away prizes such as an iPad Pro 9.7", Beats headphones, $50 iTunes gift cards, $50 American Express gift cards and 43" LCD televisions.

THE BROADCAST

Thursday's game will be streamed on SEC Network + via the WatchESPN app with Eli Gold on play-by-play, Rick Moody as the analyst and Hannah Chalker on the sidelines.
The game will also be available via the Crimson Tide Sports Network on 100.1 FM locally, with Roger Hoover and Tyler Williams calling all the action.
Fans will be able to follow along with live scoring on RollTide.com and game updates will be available on Twitter at @AlabamaWBB.

OPENING TIP

Alabama plays its Southeastern Conference home opener on Thursday against Ole Miss. The Tide is 13-21 in league home openers with its last coming a season ago when Alabama topped LSU, 62-45.
Junior Meoshonti Knight leads four in double figures with 12.8 points per game. She is followed by fellow junior Hannah Cook (11.9 ppg), sophomore Shaquera Wade (11.5 ppg) and freshman Jordan Lewis (10.6 ppg). Wade averages a team-best 7.1 boards per game, while Lewis has dished out a team-high 4.4 assists per contest.
Alabama ranks third in the nation in free throw attempts with 348 taken through 14 games. In addition, the Tide stands at No. 6 nationally in rebounds per game with an average of 46.43 boards per contest. The last time Alabama averaged over 45 rebounds for the season was in 1996-97 (48.5 rpg).
Alabama finished its non-conference season with a 12-1 record, which is its best mark since it went 12-1 prior to Southeastern Conference play during the 2000-01 season.

SHOT-BLOCKING SENSATION

Freshman Ashley Knight has been stellar thus far defensively in the paint. She already has 36 blocks on the season, for an average of 2.6 rejections per game.
Her 2.6 block average ranks the Austin, Texas native first in the Southeastern Conference and 16th nationally, while her 34 overall blocks is 19th in the country.
Knight is also now only three blocks away from entering Alabama's single season top 10 list and 42 away from the Tide's career top 10 list.

WATCHING WADE

Shaquera Wade's production all over the court has nearly doubled in every category from a season ago.
The sophomore is averaging 11.5 points, a team-high 7.1 rebounds, 2.4 steals and 1.5 assists. As a freshman, she finished with averages of 6.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 1.0 assists.
Wade also has three double-doubles this season, the most of anyone on the team.

LEADING LEWIS

Freshman Jordan Lewis has started every game at the point guard position for Alabama and has shown poise and confidence running the offense beyond her years.
She is currently averaging a team-best 4.4 assists per game, ranking her fifth in the Southeastern Conference.
Lewis has also scored double-digit points nine times and led the team in steals four times and rebounding three times.

WILLIAMS CLOSING IN ON 1,000

Junior Ashley Williams is 103 points away from becoming Alabama's 25th 1,000 point scorer in program history.
Should she reach that number this season, she would be only the 13th Crimson Tide student-athlete to reach the milestone in three years or less.

GETTING TO THE LINE

Alabama finished the 2015-16 season ranked 73rd in the nation in free throw attempts (615) and 77th in free throws made (430) while averaging 69.9 percent made per game.
The Crimson Tide is off to another strong start getting to the line a total of 348 times, 161 more times than its opponents (187).
Alabama ranks third nationally, and second the SEC, in free throw attempts.

ABOUT OLE MISS

Ole Miss enters Thursday's game at 12-2 overall after having won its last six contests. The Rebels opened SEC play at home on Sunday with a 73-64 victory over Arkansas.
Like Alabama, both of Ole Miss' losses have come on the road. The Rebels dropped a 64-57 decision at UNLV on Nov. 27 and a 66-61 decision at West Virginia on Dec. 4.
Ole Miss has four that average double-figure points, led by sophomore Madinah Muhammad with 13.5 points per game. She is followed by junior Shandricka Sessom (12.6 ppg), redshirt junior Chrishae Rowe (10.5 ppg) and senior Erika Sisk (10.1). Shequila Joseph lead the team in rebounds with 5.9 per contest, while Sisk dishes out a team-best 5.3 assists per game.
Shelby Gibson earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors on Tuesday after averaging 14.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in last week's games against Mississippi Valley State and Arkansas.
Ole Miss is under the direction of fourth-year head coach Matt Insell. In his second season, Insell led the Rebels to the postseason, advancing to the third round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament and finishing with a 19-14 overall mark. He heads into Thursday's game with a 53-56 record.