TCU-Mississippi Preview

3/16/2007 11:40 AM

By MIKE VOTTA
STATS Senior Writer

Mississippi limped its way into the NCAA tournament, but it's ready to make a fresh start.

The seventh-seeded Rebels hope to start building some momentum as they face No. 10 seed TCU in a first-round matchup Sunday in Hartford, Conn.

Mississippi (21-10) lost five of its last six games heading into the NCAA tournament, including a 52-46 defeat to LSU in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament on March 2. The Rebels, who won seven straight midway through the season, were still awarded their highest seed under fourth-year coach Carol Ross.

Mississippi is 15-16 in 16 appearances in the NCAA tournament.

"Well, we are back in the big dance," Ross said. "We are excited about the opportunity to compete for a national championship. Only 64 teams get that privilege in women's basketball, and we are thrilled that Ole Miss is one of those teams."

The Rebels rank ninth in the nation in scoring with 77.1 points per game and are led by senior guard Armintie Price, who was a unanimous selection to The AP all-SEC first team. Price ranked second in the conference with 18.1 points per game and led the league with 3.8 steals a contest.

The Rebels shot just 24.6 percent in their conference tournament loss to LSU, but came back from an 18-point deficit.

"I wouldn't trade how we played that last 20 minutes for anything," Ross said. "I love being their coach when they play that way. It really is a treat."

The Rebels will be up against a team with a high-powered offense in TCU, which leads the Mountain West Conference with 72.4 points per game. Junior guard Adrianne Ross was named the league's player of the year and led the MWC with 17.5 points per game.

The Lady Frogs (21-10) won six of eight games before falling 68-67 to Utah in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament on March 7. Ross scored 26 points for TCU, including 18 in the second half.

The Lady Frogs are making their seventh straight - and seventh overall - appearance in the NCAA tournament. They are one of just 12 teams to earn a bid in each of the last seven seasons.

TCU has advanced to the second round in five of its trips to the tournament. Last season, it beat sixth-seeded Texas A&M before losing to No. 3 Rutgers.

Mississippi has won both meetings between these teams, including a 95-56 victory on Dec. 2, 1994, in the most recent matchup. The Rebels also beat the Lady Frogs 82-67 on Nov. 6, 1993.

The winner of this game will meet second-seeded Maryland or No. 15 seed Harvard on Tuesday.