Courtesy of Stephen Featherston, Assistant Director of Communications, Tennessee State Athletics
The Tennessee State women’s basketball team will be in search of their first Ohio Valley Conference win of the season and their first win at SIUE since January of 2016 when they take on the Cougars tomorrow afternoon. TSU is coming off two straight OVC losses as they fell to Morehead State and Little Rock last weekend.
The Matchup: Tennessee State (5-8, 0-2 OVC) vs. SIUE (2-11, 1-1 OVC)
Date/Time: Thursday, January 5 at 3:00 p.m.
Location: First Community Arena || Edwardsville, Il.
TV: ESPN+
Live Stats
SERIES INFORMATION: This will be the 19th all-time matchup between TSU and SIUE. The Tigers have not fared well against the Cougars in the past, as SIUE leads the all-time series 15-3. TSU has dropped the last nine games to the Cougars, with their last win coming on January 9, 2016. TSU will be looking for its first win in Edwardsville as they are 0-7 there all-time.
SCOUTING SIUE: SIUE comes into tomorrow’s matchup with a 2-11 record which includes a 1-1 mark in OVC play. The Cougars lost their first eight games of the season, before picking up a win on December 17 over Northern Illinois. SIUE dropped their first OVC game of the season last Thursday, followed by their first OVC win on Saturday over SEMO 76-61. SIUE is averaging 57.7 points per outing while giving up 82.4 points per game. They are shooting 34.9 percent from the floor and 28.7 percent from beyond the arc. Sofie Lowis (10.6 ppg), and Ajula Thatha (10.1 pgg) lead the team in scoring, while Thatha also leads the team in rebounds per game with 6.8.
NEWCOMER x2: Erica Haynes-Overton received her second OVC Newcomer of the Week award on Tuesday morning after her two-game performance against MOR and LR last week. The grad transfer averaged 17.0 ppg, 2.5 rebounds per game, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals. Her 22 points against LR was her fourth 20+ point performance of the season.
100 POINT CLUB: Saniah Parker became the third Lady Tiger to reach to 100 point mark this season after she chipped in 10 points against LR. The Alabama has scored 109 points this season to average 8.4 points per game. Parker joins Gia Adams (180 points), and Erica Haynes-Overton(173 points).
STARTING TIME: For the first time this season all TSU starters logged 30+ minutes against Little Rock. Kianni Westbrook and Haynes-Overton both played a season-high 34 minutes, while Gia Adams and Saniah Parker both played 33 minutes, followed by Lyric Cole with 32 minutes.
COLE GETS BIG: Lyric Cole has surpassed forward Sierra McCullough for the team lead in rebounds over the course of the last two games with McCullough out. Cole leads TSU with 85 total boards to average 6.5 boards per outing. The Memphis native pulled down eight rebounds against MOR and six against LR. McCullough leads the squad with 7.4 boards per game.
