Alabama
Ole Miss
Alabama Closes Out Home Slate by Hosting Ole Miss on Thursday
2/27/2019 3:08:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Crimson Tide and Rebels will play at 7 p.m. CT inside Coleman Coliseum
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama women's basketball team will play its last home game of the regular season when it hosts Ole Miss on Thursday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. CT in Coleman Coliseum. Last time out, the Crimson Tide (12-15, 4-10 SEC) dropped a close overtime game to Georgia on Sunday, 76-67, while the Rebels (9-19, 3-11 SEC) have lost their last three contests.
THE BROADCAST
• Thursday's game will be streamed live on SEC Network +. Eli Gold (play-by-play) and Rick Moody (analyst) will be on the call, with Eryn Cooper on the sidelines.
• The game can also be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network on 100.1 FM in Tuscaloosa with Roger Hoover on the broadcast.
OPENING TIP
• Alabama will close out its home slate when it takes on Ole Miss on Thursday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. CT inside Coleman Coliseum.
• The Crimson Tide (12-15, 4-10 SEC) are coming off a hard-fought overtime loss to Georgia, 76-67, on Sunday night, while the Rebels (9-19, 3-11 SEC) dropped their road game to Arkansas, 73-61.
• This is the 60th meeting between the two schools with Ole Miss holding the 34-25 all-time advantage. The last meeting between the Rebels and Crimson Tide was on Feb.11, 2018 with Alabama winning 82-79 in Oxford. Alabama has won four straight meetings and seven of the last eight against the Rebels.
ABOUT OLE MISS
• Ole Miss has struggled this season, losing its last three games and eight of its last 10 contests. Its last win came on Thursday, Feb. 14 after defeating Vanderbilt, 65-60, at home.
• The Rebels are led by Crystal Allen who averages 17.8 points per game which is third in the SEC. Shandricka Sessom also puts in double-figures with 10.3 points per contest and a team-best 5.8 rebounds per game.
• Ole Miss holds just a 1-10 record away from home under first-year head coach, Yolett McPhee-McCuin.
NEWS AND NOTES
• Junior Cierra Johnson is coming off two impressive performances after pouring in 25 points against Vanderbilt (2/21) and 23 points against Georgia (2/24). Johnson became the first UA player since Ashley Williams in 2014 to score 20-plus points in back-to-back games. Johnson also picked up her first career double-double in the overtime loss against Georgia after adding 12 rebounds and five assists to her 23-point performance. The Mobile, Ala., native is the first Alabama player since 2013 to have 20-10-5 in a game. She has scored in double digits in 20 of the last 24 contests and is currently first on the team with 14.5 points per game (15th in SEC) and in total assists with 83 (T-13th in SEC). Johnson is also the top-rebounding guard on the squad and third on the team with 4.8 per contest. The junior has twice as many free throw attempts (142 - 4th in SEC) and makes (105 - 6th in SEC) than any other player on the team.
At the beginning of conference play, Johnson moved from shooting guard to starting at the point guard position with the injury to Jordan Lewis. Over those 14 contests, Johnson is averaging 15.4 points (10th in SEC), 5.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists (11th in SEC).
• Copeland has made significant strides from her freshman season to now. This season the sophomore is tops on the team with 1.3 blocks per game (7th in SEC) and second on the squad with seven rebounds (15th in SEC) per contest. Copeland is also putting up 8.2 points per game, compared to averaging three points a game in 2017-18. The Columbus, Ga., native is second on the team with four double-doubles and has started the last 18 games for the Tide. She is also averaging 1.3 blocks (5th in SEC) and 7.4 rebounds (11th in SEC) through 14 SEC games.
• Freshman Megan Abrams has been stepping up her play over the last five games, putting up 9.6 points per game. Abrams who has struggled shooting in her first year with the Tide is shooting 47.1 percent (16-of-34) combined in the past five games. She is also seeing an increase in minutes, averaging 30.9 per game over the previous six contests.
• Getting off to a hot start has been key for the Tide this season, when leading at half UA is 11-1, while when trailing, 1-14.
• Junior Jordan Lewis was named to the Southeastern Conference Community Service Team for the 2018-19 season, league office announced on Wednesday.
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