Women’s Basketball Hosts Alabama State For Senior Night
• 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 17.3 points, 6.6 assists and 3.84 steals. Nationally, she ranks fourth in assists and fourth in steals per game.
• Head coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke is 33-26 all-time in the month of March and 2-2 at TSU.
• Cooper-Dyke is 12-2 all-time against Alabama State. She last faced Alabama State in February and won 81-54 in Montgomery, Ala.
• Alabama State is currently seventh in the SWAC standings as this could be a potential first round match-up in the SWAC Tournament if seeding holds. Both Ayana Emmanuel and Jayla Crawford average 11.3 points per game to lead the Hornets. Aniya Smith leads the team in rebounding with 6.0 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 (16.4/11.5) and ranks 7th nationally in rebounding (8th in offensive rebounding). She has 14 double-doubles this season. Mitchell is tied for 20th, nationally, in steals.
• 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 through games played Feb. 29 is a SWAC-leading 136.
Courtesy: TSUSports.com
