MONTEVALLO, Ala. – Montevallo women's basketball is set to host Mississippi College at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 3 in the second matchup between the two sides this season.
The Falcons come into Saturday's contest looking to rebound from a 57-53 loss to Delta State in a matchup on Thursday night. Montevallo's third loss in a row leaves the Falcons with an 11-9 overall record with a 9-8 mark in conference play as the No. 6 team in the Gulf South Conference.
So Far This Season…
Montevallo's 11-9 record began with a 1-1 stretch during the GSC-SSC Crossover Classic with a loss to Embry-Riddle to start the season followed by a win over Nova Southeastern in early November. In the Falcons' home opener, Montevallo defeated Birmingham-Southern 67-40 on Nov. 14. The Falcons began the conference schedule with a pair of road wins at Alabama Huntsville and West Alabama before returning for a 66-57 win over Shorter on Dec. 1. The Falcons suffered the first GSC loss of the season at the hands of Lee on Dec. 3 before bouncing back with another set of road victories at Mississippi College and Delta State. The Falcons dropped back-to-back games at home to West Georgia and Union to close the 2023 calendar year. Montevallo rebounded with a win 16-point win over Christian Brothers to start 2024 before heading to West Florida for a 70-67 win on Jan. 6. UM dropped a pair of road contests at Valdosta State and Auburn Montgomery before taking a 74-59 win over West Alabama. The Falcons topped West Georgia on a last second shot. The Falcons have dropped the last three outings with losses to Alabama Huntsville, Lee and most recently Delta State.
The Falcons offense ranks sixth in the GSC with an average score of 65.6 points per game while allowing its opponents to score 65.2 per contest. The Falcons remain the top free-throw shooting team in the GSC with a 76.6-percent clip from the stripe while opponents shoot a league-low 64.6 percent. Montevallo takes care of the ball with a league-low 13.1 turnovers per game while the Falcons 3.20 turnover margin ranks fourth among GSC leaders.
Scouting Mississippi College: WATCH | LIVE STATS
The Lady Choctaws enter the contest with a 7-12 overall record and a 6-10 mark in GSC play. The Lady Choctaws opened the regular season with a 58-54 win over Lane on Nov. 10 before going on a two-game skid to close the non-conference schedule. MC fell to No. 7 Union, 84-53, on Nov. 25 before snapping a three-game losing streak with a two-point win over Christian Brothers on Nov. 27. MC went 0-2 with losses to West Florida and Valdosta State before dropping two more against Montevallo and Auburn Montgomery. The Lady Choctaws took a 69-60 overtime win over West Alabama before dropping a matchup with UAH. MC grabbed back-to-back wins with a pair of home wins over Shorter and Lee. An MC win over West Georgia on Jan. 13 was sandwiched by two games that were postponed. The Lady Choctaws then went on a three-game skid with loss to ranked Union and Valdosta State with a third coming against West Florida. MC bounced back with a 61-46 win over Christian Brothers before falling to AUM, 65-55, in the most recent outing.
The Lady Choctaws are led in the scoring column by Karly Ivy who posts an average of 10.5 points per game on a 32.3-percent shooting mark. Amelia Bell follows closely behind with an average of 9.9 points per game on a team-high 51.4 percent shooting. Bell is also the team's leader with 5.4 boards per game.
Player Highlights:
The Falcons head into the meeting with three double-digit scorers in
Cali Smallwood (11.7),
Isabel Grimes (10.4), and
Marisa Snodgrass (10.3). The trio is followed closely by sophomore
Savannah Cook who scores 9.2 per game. Smallwood and Grimes are Montevallo top rebounders with Smallwood grabbing 6.2 boards and Grimes adding 4.5 per game. Snodgrass remains one of the top guards in the conference with the third-highest steals per game (2.7) while dishing out 4.9 assists per contest (second). Snodgrass's 2.8 assist to turnover ratio is the highest in the GSC.
