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2017 Regions Bank Grove Bowl Set for April 8
Photo by Joshua McCoy/Ole Miss Athletics
Twitter: @OleMissPix
Game time is set for 11 a.m. CT, and admission is free. It will also be aired live on SEC Network.
During the Grove Bowl, Ole Miss will officially unveil the new Jake Gibbs Letterwinner Walk, which will permanently display the names of every letterwinner in a varsity sport in Ole Miss Athletics history, just outside the north end zone of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
The Rebel baseball team hosts Alabama that weekend, including a 4 p.m. first pitch on that Saturday. For information on baseball season tickets, visit www.OleMissTix.com.
The annual Chucky Mullins breakfast will be held prior to the Grove Bowl kickoff.
Other details of Regions Bank Grove Bowl Week will be announced in the coming months.
Follow Ole Miss Football on Twitter (@OleMissFB), Facebook and Instagram. For more information, visit www.OleMissSports.com.
Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports
Softball Unveils 2017 Slate
The Rebels enter their 21st season of action and third under head coach Mike Smith, coming off a banner year in 2016 that saw Ole Miss qualify for its first NCAA Tournament in school history.
Of the 56-game regular season schedule, Ole Miss will play 27 at home and 29 on the road, and take part in five tournaments to open the year, totaling 23 contests in tournament play. The Rebels will enter the year with one of the nation’s toughest schedules with 10 games against four 2016 Women’s College World Series participants.
The 2017 slate gets underway Feb. 10-12 in California at the Easton Invitational, which features three NCAA Tournament teams (Cal State Fullerton, North Dakota State, Ole Miss). Ole Miss will take on the host Titans in Friday’s nightcap, and also face Loyola Marymount twice in the three-day event. A tilt with Pacific from the West Coast Conference awaits the Rebels, as well as the first-ever meeting between Ole Miss and North Dakota State.
After the trip out west, the Rebels will trek to Houston Feb. 17-19 for the Rawlings Classic hosted by the University of Houston. There, Ole Miss will kick off the tournament against WCWS Champion Oklahoma in a rematch of the 2016 NCAA Norman Regional Final. The Rebels will also play the host Cougars once, Incarnate Word for the first time, and Rhode Island twice to close out play in Texas.
Following two-straight weeks west of Oxford, the Rebels hit the road for the Sunshine State Feb. 24-26 for the Stetson Invitational. Ole Miss will again take on two first-time opponents in DeLand, Florida in Colgate and the host Hatters, and also face South Florida in a pair of contests.
With the first 15 games on the road, the Rebels get a break and play 14-straight in Oxford beginning March 1 against Louisiana Tech. The Red & Blue Classic is set for March 3-5 at the Ole Miss Softball Complex and will feature action between Mississippi Valley State, Austin Peay, Nicholls State, and UT Martin.
A week later, Ole Miss welcomes four more teams to town for the Ole Miss Classic and will play the likes of MAC opponent Bowling Green, Eastern Kentucky from the OVC, Big 12 opponent Oklahoma State and in-state foe Jackson State.
A midweek contest with Southeastern Louisiana awaits the Rebels on March 15, before the demanding SEC slate begins at home March 17-19. Texas A&M makes the trip to Oxford that weekend after the two didn’t play each other last season.
This year’s SEC schedule doesn’t feature a weekend series with rival Mississippi State, but the two will take part in a midweek showdown March 22 in Oxford. From there, the Rebels will take on three-straight NCAA Tournament teams in Tennessee (March 24-26) in Knoxville, Jacksonville State (March 29) on the road, and Kentucky (March 31-April 2) at home. The weekend series with the Wildcats will mark the Rebels’ 2017 Alumni Weekend, with more info to be announced at a later date.
With two midweek tilts against Central Arkansas (April 4) and Memphis (April 12) sprinkled in, Ole Miss will take on WCWS teams in back-to-back weeks in Auburn (April 7-9), on the Plains, and LSU (April 14-16) at home.
The Rebels play their final midweek road game on April 18 with the return trip to UT Martin, before heading to Gainesville for a series with the Florida Gators April 21-23. The Gamecocks of Jacksonville State will make their return trip to Oxford April 26, before a big weekend showdown with the Alabama Crimson Tide awaits the Rebels April 29 – May 1.
The home finale is set for May 3 versus Southern Miss, before the regular season closes May 5-7 at Missouri. The 2017 SEC Tournament will be played at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium on the campus of the University of Tennessee, and will run May 10-13.
The Rebels return 15 players from last year’s squad, including seven starting position players and three pitchers that combined for 174 innings in the circle. Ole Miss also welcomes in a strong class of 12 newcomers that include two transfers and 10 freshmen.
For all Ole Miss Softball news and information, go to OleMissSports.com and follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissSoftball, on Facebook at Ole Miss Softball and on Instagram at Instagram.com/olemisssoftball. Fans can also follow head coach Mike Smith on Twitter at @msmithsb16. Additionally, fans can get a behind the scenes look at Ole Miss Softball on Snapchat under the handle, @OleMissSoftball.
Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports
Strong Fourth Quarter Leads Ole Miss Women’s Basketball To Win
Ole Miss (3-0) opened the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run to pull ahead, but the story of the fourth quarter was the emergence of Taylor Manuel (St. Louis, Mo.). With just three points entering the final stanza, Manuel went off for eight points and Ole Miss held the Gamecocks to just seven points while rattling off 22 fourth-quarter points en route to their third straight win.
The Rebels found themselves in a battle in the third quarter, but sparked by a triple from Sessom late Ole Miss used a 17-2 run to pull away. The Rebels shot 41.1 percent (23-of-56), but shot an astounding 57.1 (8-of-14) percent in the fourth led by Manuel.
Trailing at halftime for the first time this season, Ole Miss came out with some momentum in the third quarter and with early buckets from Erika Sisk (Oxford, Miss.) and Sessom Ole Miss tied the game at 34 before a triple from Madinah Muhammad (Chicago, Ill.) gave the lead back to the Rebels. In a quarter in which the score went back-and-forth between the teams, Ole Miss closed the quarter with a bucket from Muhammad, which sparked Ole Miss’ fourth quarter run.
Shequila Joseph (London, England) got the scoring started with a triple – her third consecutive game with a three-pointer – and scored the first five points of the game as Ole Miss jumped out to a 8-1 lead at the media timeout, while holding the Gamecocks without a field goal. JSU posted their first field goal at the 3:51 mark of the first quarter and cut the lead to just two points, but right on cue Joseph nailed a triple to keep the lead with the home team as Ole Miss closed the quarter with the last four points.
The second quarter was full of momentum shifts as the Gamecocks scored 22 second-quarter points and took their first lead of the game at the 3:19 mark. The Rebels were able to respond with a bucket from Bretta Hart (Poplarville, Miss.) to keep the lead with the home team. JSU took a five-point lead before a jumper from Shandricka Sessom cut the JSU lead to two points, 29-27, at halftime.
From The Head Coach
On the win…
“We had to fight for this one. It’s good when you’re in a fight and it’s not just a blowout. We found a way to win. That’s a good basketball team we just played. They have a good chance at winning the Ohio Valley Conference. We found a way to get it there at the end, and I’m proud of our team.”
On the comeback…
“We just kept playing passive, and I had to get on them at halftime, and they responded, came out the second half and played. It’s good to do that and have a little adversity. It’s a big game for us to get a win. They just almost beat Florida State, the No. 12 team in the country.”
“First half we got to playing a little one-on-one ball. That’s not what we need to do. We got to sharing the ball in the second half. Total team effort.”
“I kept telling them in the huddle, ‘we’ve got to get back to playing our ball. We can’t be individuals. We have to execute offensively, and if we do that, we’ll get it.’ And you saw, when the ball goes into (Taylor) Manuel, something good happens. That’s our ticket. We’ve got to go in there to her.”
On Shequila Joseph…
“Shequila Joseph, player of the game. She played her butt off the whole night. I’m real proud of her. She kept us in it there in the first half when we had nothing else going.”
Rebel Sidelines
-Ole Miss moves to 3-0 in the all-time series with the Gamecocks with today’s win. Ole Miss has also won three straight to open a season for the first time since 2014-15.
-Head coach Matt Insell earned his first career win against these very same Gamecocks on Nov. 8, 2013 – his first career game as Ole Miss head coach.
-Shandricka Sessom extended her scoring and rebounding streak to 34 consecutive games with 11 points and 11 rebounds tonight. She also tied her career high in rebounds with 11 and nabbed her first double-double of the season.
-Erika Sisk moves 28 points way from 1,000 career points with her 15 points tonight. She will become the second player to earn their 1,000th career point under Matt Insell joining former Rebel Tia Faleru.
-Ole Miss had all five starters in double figures for the first time since a game at Georgia in 2010.
– Shequila Joseph has nailed a triple in each of Ole Miss’ games this season and in four of the last five dating back to last season.
Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports
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