Lady Tigers host Prairie View A&M on Saturday

HOUSTON – The Lady Tigers of Texas Southern University open the second round of Southwestern Athletic Conference play Saturday when they welcome in-state rival Prairie View A&M to H&PE Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

Game 21
Prairie View A&M at Texas Southern Lady Tigers
Saturday, Feb. 9 • 5:30 p.m. • Houston, Texas • H&PE Arena
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The Lady Tigers (9-11, 5-4 SWAC) won the previous matchup between the two teams by a score of 52-44 in Prairie View in January. They have won four of their last five games entering Saturday’s contest.

Prairie View A&M (10-9, 7-2 SWAC) is tied for first place with Southern. The Lady Panthers boast the third-leading scorer in the conference, Shala Dobbins, who averages 14.6 points per game.

GAME NOTES

Keep it low
The Lady Tigers have the stingiest defense in SWAC play, giving up a conference-low 57.0 points per game to SWAC opponents. That helps their offense, which averages only 59.9 points per conference game, ranking ninth in the league.

Double-double Mitchell
Niya Mitchell has recorded four consecutive double-doubles and six in her last seven games. In SWAC play, she averages 15.6 points and 12.6 rebounds per game. Over the course of her last seven games, she has averaged 17.4 points and 13.1 rebounds per contest.

Cunningham heating up
Olivia Cunningham has scored in double-figures in four of her last five games. Over her last five games, she has averaged 12.6 points per contest and shot 53.1 percent (23 of 49) from the floor.

The comforts of home
In addition to averaging a double-double in SWAC play, Niya Mitchell also averages a double-double in home games. In the team’s six home games thus far, Mitchell has averaged 17.6 points and 10.8 rebounds per contest. Richelle Velez averages 9.4 points per game at home – a 2.5-points per game jump from her season average – and shoots 40.6 percent from 3-point range (13 of 32).

Texas Southern vs. Prairie View A&M
The Lady Tigers are 42-35 against Prairie View A&M in the league’s NCAA era beginning in the 1981-82 season. TSU has won seven of the last 10 meetings with the Lady Panthers, and ended a two-game losing streak when the Lady Tigers prevailed 52-44 when the teams met in January.