Tigers Continue Homestand versus Alcorn State Tonight
• Second-term head coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke returns to the TSU sidelines for the first time since 2011-12. She spent the 2011-12 season at TSU and led them to the SWAC Regular Season Championship for the first time in school history.
• Guard Ciani Cryor is off to a sizzling start as she’s averaging 16.6 points, 7.6 assists and 3.8 steals. She ranks third nationally in assists per game and ninth in steals.
• Head coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke is 66-39 all-time in the month of January and 9-1 at TSU.
• Cooper-Dyke is 7-5 all-time against Alcorn State as she has not played them since 2013. She has yet to square off against ASU head coach Courtney Pruitt. Pruitt is 2-6 lifetime against TSU.
• Alcorn State was picked ninth in the SWAC Preseason poll. LaRae Rascoe leads the team with 12.6 points per game while Jada Hargrove leads with four rebounds per game. ASU is coming off a win at Prairie View A&M and has the second-most (5) overall wins in the SWAC behind TSU.
• Senior forward Niya Mitchell completed the trifecta as she was named the SWAC’s Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year in addition to earning first team honors. A 5-10 graduate student from Bay City, Texas, Mitchell is averaging a double-double (14/11.1) and ranks 10th nationally in rebounding and 11th in steals with four double-doubles.
• TSU was picked fifth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference preseason poll after finishing the 2018-19 season in fifth. TSU has a revamped roster with only five letterwiners retuning while they welcome nine newcomers and two redshirts.
• TSU’s RPI as of Jan. 5 is 69 and is 152 points higher than the next closest team in the SWAC. TSU has the fourth-highest RPI in the state of Texas.
Courtesy: TSUSports.com
