Courtesy of Texas Southern Athletics
• No. 4 Texas Southern women’s basketball starts postseason play Thursday afternoon as they’ll host #5 Southern in the first round of the SWAC Tournament at 5:30 p.m.
• TSU finished fourth in the SWAC standings this season after being picked sixth. This marks their first meeting against Southern in the postseason since March 11, 2016.
• Since 2012, TSU is 8-7 in postseason play and last advanced past the first round since 2020 but the remainder of the tourney was canceled due to COVID-19. TSU fell 85-69 in the first round of the SWAC Tournament last season.
• Fourth-year head coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke is back on the TSU sidelines for the third straight season. She led TSU to the SWAC Regular Season Championship for the first time in school history in 2012-13 in addition to a second-place finish in 2019-20. The team made it to the semifinals of the SWAC Tournament (before COVID-19) in 2020 and a quarterfinals appearance in 2021.
• Cooper-Dyke is 9-10 all-time against Southern. • TSU has faced off against teams from four conferences in 2021-22. TSU has squared off against teams from the Pac-12 (3), Conference USA, SEC and Big 12. TSU is a de facto member of the Pac-12 this year with games at Arizona, Colorado and USC.
• Jada Perry is coming into her own with five double-doubles over the last 11 games. Graduate guard Ataiya Bridges has scored 20-plus points in seven of the past nine games. Sophomore Andriana Avent has nine games with 20-plus points, including four with 30-plus.
• Southern enters SWAC Tournament play on a two-game losing streak and has won five of the past seven against TSU as head coach Carlos Funchess enters his fourth season. Amani McWain leads SU with 11.7 points per game and 5.4 rebounds followed by Genovea Johnson’s 11 points.
• Head coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke is 36-31 all-time in the month of March and 5-7 at TSU. She has a 17-9 postseason record and is 1-2 at TSU. Overall, she’s 9-4 in SWAC Tournament play. Andriana Avent earned All-SWAC First team honors while Ataiya Bridges earned second team honors.
