UK Hoops look to avenge last year’s upset loss to Ole Miss

Junior+guard+Makayla+Epps+%2825%29+passes+the+ball+around+a+defender+during+the+game+against+the+Auburn+Tigers+on+Sunday%2C+January+17%2C+2016+in+Lexington%2C.+Kentucky+won+the+game+54-47.+Photo+by+Hunter+Mitchell+%7C+Staff

Junior guard Makayla Epps (25) passes the ball around a defender during the game against the Auburn Tigers on Sunday, January 17, 2016 in Lexington,. Kentucky won the game 54-47. Photo by Hunter Mitchell | Staff

Caitlin Schwartz

The No. 9 UK women’s basketball team travels to Oxford, Mississippi, to take on the unranked Ole Miss Rebels.

The Rebels are 9-9 on the season and 1-4 in SEC play, coming off a hard-hitting 79-51 loss against No. 10 Mississippi State on Monday night. The Cats are 14-2 on the season, 3-2 in SEC play after a 54-47 win over Auburn on Sunday. 

The last matchup between the Cats and the Rebels was Feb. 23, 2015 when Ole Miss upset No. 13 ranked Cats in a 67-59 win at Tad Smith Coliseum. The win stopped a six-game winning streak for the Cats last season.

“It is going to be a tough game, we know that and we got beat down there last year and we need to make sure we understand what a tough game this will be,” head coach Matthew Mitchell said. “So we are going to prepare really hard (on Wednesday). We had a good practice yesterday and see if we can go down and earn a very important road victory.”

Thursday’s meeting will be the 38th time overall, with the Rebels owning a 21-16 advantage, 12-6 when playing on their home floor.  

Ole Miss head coach Matt Insell is quite familiar with UK’s program as he spent five years as the top assistant on Matthew Mitchell’s staff. Insell helped the Cats to three consecutive Elite Eight appearances. Since he has been head coach at Ole Miss, UK has a 2-1 series advantage.

As a team, UK is averaging 75.6 points per game and 41.4 rebounds per game. The Cats are led by Makayla Epps who is averaging 15.9 ppg. Two other Cats who are averaging double-digits are Janee Thompson with 12. 5 ppg and Evelyn Akhator with 12.1 ppg. Akhator is also leading the way on the glass with 10.1 rpg while Alexis Jennings is adding 7.0 rebounds per game.

Mitchell stressed in his weekly news conference how important it is for his team to take care of the ball and that it has to start with the leaders and point guards on the teams. Thompson had four turnovers against Auburn on Sunday.

“Yeah, she just forced the action too much. She gets impatient I think with maybe some of our youth and youthful mistakes and wants to go make something happen,” Mitchell said. “She knows what she has to do and she just has to go into the game and refuse to turn the basketball over because she is trying to make spectacular plays.”

On the other side, Ole Miss is led by sophomore Shandricka Sessom – averaging 16.1 ppg and 6.0 rpg. Freshman Madinah Muhammad is pitching in with 7.6 ppg and has put up double figures in three out of five SEC games for Ole Miss.

On the list of advantages UK has over Ole Miss is age and experience. Ole Miss is arguably the youngest team in the SEC this season as they are the only team without a senior and only have a handful of juniors. Nine out of the thirteen players on the Ole Miss roster are freshman and sophomores.

Speaking of little experience, UK freshman Taylor Murray showed out against Auburn with career-highs in points with 14 and steals with six.

“Thinking back on her first day to where she is now, it has been a tremendous amount of improvement,” Mitchell said. “She is an incredible person and she works really, really hard and I think she is going to have a fantastic career here.” 

Murray and the rest of the Cats will have to put up a fight on Thursday in order to keep Ole Miss from its first win over a ranked opponent since the two team’s last meeting. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. on the SEC Network.