Tennessee State Contines OVC Play at Southeast Missouri State

TENNESSEE STATE (2-8, 0-1 OVC) at SOUTHEAST MISSOURI (5-8, 0-1 OVC)

Saturday, Dec. 30 | 12 p.m.
Cape Girardeau, Mo. | Show Me Center

GAME NOTES: TENNESSEE STATE 
LIVE STATS: tsu.statbroadcast.com 
VIDEO: OVC Digital Network 
SOCIAL MEDIA: Twitter - @tsuladytigers

GAMEDAY: The Tennessee State University women’s basketball team will continue Ohio Valley Conference action on Saturday, Dec. 30 with a match-up at Southeast Missouri. Game time is set for noon in the Show Me Center.

THE LADY TIGERS AT A GLANCE: Tennessee State (2-8, 0-1 OVC) opened OVC play on Thursday at UT Martin. Despite cutting a 14-point deficit down to just four with 4:02 remaining, TSU fell to UTM, 80-68, on the road. TSU is still looking for its first road win of the season.

Redshirt junior Tia Wooten (19.5 ppg) and Freshman Taylor Roberts (16.1 ppg) lead the team in scoring while Kaliya Griffin (7.3 ppg) rounds out the top three scorers for TSU. Wooten (7.6 rpg) and Roberts (7.5 rpg) are the team’s leading rebounders.

As a team, TSU is averaging 69.6 ppg while shooting 38.0 percent from the field. The Lady Tigers are shooting 69.6 percent from the free-throw line while struggling from beyond the arc (.287).

TSU is third in the Ohio Valley Conference in offensive rebounding and 4th in steals.

The Lady Tigers are under the direction of first year head coach Jessica Kern.

LAST TIME OUT: A slow first quarter proved to be the difference in a season opening loss to UT Martin on the road. TSU nearly matched UTM point-for-point in the final three stanzas but ultimately fell to UTM, 80-68, Thursday night. After only posting a combined three points in the first half, Tia Wooten (22 points, 9 rebounds) and Taylor Roberts (12 points, 7 rebounds) led the Lady Tigers in scoring. After trailing by 14 points, TSU pulled to within four with four minutes to play. The Lady Tigers, however, were not able to complete the comeback.

ABOUT THE OPPONENT: Southeast Missouri (5-8, 0-1 OVC) is most recently coming off a 67-57 loss to reigning OVC champion Belmont in the league opener on Thursday. The Redhawks have dropped three of their last four contests. SEMO is led in scoring by Adrianna Murphy’s 12.8 points per game while Tesia Thompson (9.8 ppg) and Ashton Luttrull (9.3 ppg) round out the top three scorers.

SERIES INFORMATION: Tennessee State and will match up with Southeast Missouri for the 48th time. The Redhawks lead the series 26-21. SEMO claimed last year’s meeting and has won two straight. Prior to that, TSU had won three straight.

COVERAGE: Links for live stats and video can be found on the schedule on tsutigers.com. Updates will also be posted during the game on Twitter (@tsuladytigers).

UP NEXT: Tennessee State returns to Nashville for an OVC contest versus Jacksonville State on Jan. 4. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m. in the Gentry Center.    

TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS