Women’s Basketball To Square Off Against Alabama State Monday Evening

• Texas Southern closes out round one of SWAC play Monday evening against Alabama State at 5:30 p.m. inside the ASU Acadome. TSU needs to win in order to maintain momentum as the Tigers hold sole possession of second place and are a game from first.

• Second-year head coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke returns to the TSU sidelines for the first time since 2012-13. She spent the 2012-13 season at TSU and led them to the SWAC Regular Season Championship for the first time in school history.

• Guard Ciani Cryor is averaging 18.1 points, 7.0 assists and 3.95 steals. She ranks third nationally in assists and is tied for third in steals per game. 

• Head coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke is 57-36 all-time in the month of February and 8-1 at TSU. 

• Cooper-Dyke is 11-2 all-time against Alabama State. She last faced the Hornets in 2013 when she coached at Texas Southern during the 2012-2013 season. 

• Alabama State was picked fourth in the SWAC Preseason poll. Both Ayana Emmanuel and Jayla Crawford average 11.1 points per game to lead the Hornets. Aniya Smith leads the team in rebounding with 5.8 rebounds per game.  

• 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 (15.4/11.6) and ranks 7th nationally in rebounding and 13th in steals. She has 10 double-doubles this season.

• 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 Feb. 1 is 99 and is 62 points higher than the next closest team in the SWAC. TSU has the sixth-highest RPI in the state of Texas.