Davis has TSU men's hoops program back on track

Men: Davis refuses to let NCAA sanctions stand in the way of getting program back on track

HOUSTON, Texas  --  In the middle stages of what was to become an 11-game losing streak, Texas Southern University offered then-interim men's basketball coach Mike Davis a four-year contract extension. Dr. Charles McClelland, the athletic director, explains it was clear to him Davis was the right man for a tough job.

For Davis, the fit felt right as well, never mind where he had been or the obstacles that lay ahead. Less than half a year after he walked on to the TSU campus for the first time, having never met any of his players - or superiors - face to face, he signed on for the long haul.

 

"I got the job so late I couldn't immediately change the mindset of how I wanted them to play," said the former Indiana and Alabama-Birmingham coach, whose record with the Tigers fell to 1-13 on Jan. 2 after a 15-point lead didn't hold up in a 63-57 loss in TSU's Southwestern Athletic Conference opener against Southern at Baton Rouge, La. "It took some time for them to buy into everything, from how we were going to play to how we were going to work.

"There was a lot that had to be changed. They went from playing zone (defense) for a couple of years to a man-to-man, and I don't like quick shots, which had been their style. I like that extra pass. I like sharing the basketball and rebounding hard. Everything was totally different for them. It wasn't until January that we started playing like should have been playing in November."

So you can imagine how ...

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Texas Southern's Rivera Starts the Spring Season Ranked 6th in the Nation

TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY 2012-13 WOMEN'S GOLF TEAM

Briana Trevino, Kassandra Rivera, Carmen Gonzales, Angela Rafac, Adriana Trevino,
Georgette Rolle (asst. coach)
(Courtesy Texas Southern Athletics)
 

ALEXANDRIA, Louisiana  --  The Texas Southern golf teams will kick-off the spring golf season by hosting the Texas SWAC Invitational Golf Tournament at Oakwing Golf Course in Alexandria, LA.

The two-day tournament runs March 4 & 5^th.

This will be Kassandra Rivera’s first tournament since her national ranking from the Fall Season. Rivera is currently ranked 6^th in the nation among NCAA Division I players with a 71.63 average. She is the highest ranked college player in Texas and among student-athletes from an HBCU.

Rivera’s low round of the season was 66 at the Prairie View A&M Invitational.

William Wells leads the Tigers’ men’s team with a 76.63 average. His low game was 74 in the Black College Hall of Fame tournament in Atlanta, GA.


COURTESY TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

In matchups of ranked teams, XU beats Belhaven twice

NEW ORLEANS -- Both Xavier University of Louisiana tennis teams defeated ranked NAIA opponents Thursday at the XU Tennis Center. The Gold Nuggets, ranked 11th, beat No. 22 Belhaven 9-0. The Gold Rush, ranked 10th, rallied to defeat No. 12 Belhaven 5-4.

Both XU teams snapped two-dual losing streaks. The women are 4-3, and the men are 4-4. Both Belhaven teams are 3-1.

The XU women did not drop a set against Belhaven. Kourtney Howell, Brion Flowers, Amanda Materre and Simone-Alyse Ewell won in singles and doubles for the Gold Nuggets, and Materre clinched the dual with her 6-2, 6-1 victory against Natalia Krier at No. 3 singles.

"The Nuggets come out and took care of business from start to finish," XU coach Alan Green said. "it was a good match played today."

The victory was the Gold Nuggets' second of the season against a ranked opponent.

The Gold Rush trailed 3-2 before getting singles victories from Loic Didavi, Nikita Soifer and Kyle Montrel, who clinched the dual with his 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 decision against Daniel Prado at No. 3. The No. 1 doubles team of Soifer and Montrel improved to 7-0 this semester after an 8-3 decision against David Mejia and Daniel Duarte.

"The Rush had another tough opponent which came out and was really intense against us," Green said. "We fought back from three match points at No. 2 doubles, which ended up being the deciding factor in the match. I have a bunch of mentally tough guys playing for us."

Soifer and Viktor Svoboda won that No. 2 doubles match 9-8 against Prado and Jefferson Nino.

It was the first Gold Rush victory this season against a ranked opponent. The XU men defeated a school-record 10 ranked opponents a year ago.

Both XU teams will travel to Jackson, Miss., for Saturday duals against Gulf Coast Athletic Conference opponents Tougaloo and Fisk. But the Gold Nuggets' schedule is a little busier, with a 3 p.m. home dual Friday against Southern and a 4 p.m. Sunday dual at Southeastern Louisiana. The SLU dual was pushed back two hours due to expected cold weather. Both XU teams will play Shorter at 2 p.m. Monday at the XU Tennis Center, which will result in six duals in five days for the Gold Nuggets.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

Southern beats Gold Nuggets for fourth consecutive year

NEW ORLEANS -- Lois Alexis defeated Simone-Alyse Ewell 7-5, 6-3 at No. 4 singles Friday to clinch Southern's 6-3 women's tennis victory against Xavier University of Louisiana at the XU Tennis Center.

The Lady Jaguars (5-4) won their fifth dual match in a row and defeated the Gold Nuggets (4-4) for the fourth consecutive year. Xavier is ranked 11th in the NAIA.

Southern won 2-of-3 doubles matches and 4-of-6 in singles. Xavier's Kourtney Howell defeated Demetria Woods 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 singles.

Camara Davis put Southern ahead to stay with a 6-0, 6-2 victory against Vashni Balleste at No. 6 singles.

Amanda Materre won at No. 3 singles for Xavier, as did Amber Brown and Nicole DeLoach at No. 3 doubles.

Materre, winning for the sixth time in seven singles matches this semester, beat Danielle Dixon 6-3, 6-4. Brown and DeLoach won in doubles for the second straight day and gave Xavier a 1-0 lead after their 9-7 defeat of Dixon and Kendall Bunch.

Howell and Materre have three singles victories each this semester against NCAA Division I opponents.

Xavier lost the other doubles matches 9-7 and 9-8. Davis and Morgan Taylor saved six match points at No. 2 in a 9-8 (7-4) victory against Ewell and Materre. Another close match was Gabrielle Moore's 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 decision against XU's Brion Flowers at No. 2 singles.

All four Xavier losses this season are to NCAA Division I opponents.

The Gold Nuggets' next dual will start at 4 p.m. Sunday at Southeastern Louisiana. The XU men's and women's duals against Fisk and Tougaloo, scheduled for Saturday in Jackson, Miss., were postponed and may be rescheduled. Also postponed were Monday men's and women's home duals against Shorter due to a death in the family of Shorter coach Orville Adams. Those matches will be rescheduled for April.

Added to the schedule were men's and women's duals against Northwood (Fla.) In Orlando, Fla., on March 28.


By Ed Cassiere, SID
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

Lady Broncos use inside strength to advance to Championship Game

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Fayetteville State has its own version of "Shaq", and she led them to a CIAA Tournament women's semifinal win at Time Warner Cable Arena on Friday.

Shuanda Ashford, whose is nicknamed after former NBA great Shaquille O'Neal, poured in 23 points and snatched 10 rebounds in a 71-57 victory over Virginia Union. The Lady Broncos (24-4 overall), the Southern Division champs and top division seed, reached their seventh CIAA finals in school history and the second under Head Coach Eva Patterson-Heath. Her squad won it all in 2010. The

Lady Broncos are shooting for their fourth league crown.

The Lady Broncos reached the CIAA championship game, which is Saturday at 5 p.m., on their inside power and transition game. The Lady Panthers (13-14), the No. 2 seed in the Northern Division, could not stop Ashford, a wide-bodied 6-1 All-CIAA center, despite doubling down on her in a zone defense. Despite the defensive focus on her, Ashford still muscled her way to the basket for easy layups. She was 10 of 16 from the floor.

"In the paint, it's always a battle," Ashford said. "My teammates kept finding the will to get me the ball and I was trying to find the will to put the ball in the basket."

Meanwhile, her frontcourt teammate Tierra Coleman took advantage of attention on Ashford on the weak side of the basket to produce a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds. Coleman, the Food Lion MVP of the game, was perfect offensively, making 7 of 7 field-goal attempts and 2 of 2 free-throw attempts. Together, the frontcourt duo combined for 39 points and 22 rebounds. Coleman carried the Lady Broncos when Ashford went out briefly after falling out of bounds under the basket in the second half.



Box Score

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Bowie State derails WSSU's hope for CIAA repeat

CHARLOTTE - Bowie State stonewalled Winston-Salem State’s bid to win consecutive CIAA basketball titles during Friday night’s semifinals of the conference tournament.

The fourth-seeded Bulldogs threw up a brick wall of a defense inside and came away with an 83-66 victory. Taking most everything away from WSSU on the inside, Bowie advanced to play Livingstone in tonight’s championship game at Time Warner Cable Arena.For the 10th-ranked Rams, poor free-throw shooting also hurt, but the biggest problem was finding any room inside.

The Bulldogs won their sixth straight and improved to 15-13. They can secure a berth in the Division II Tournament with a win tonight.

The Rams (21-6) will have more basketball to play in the Division II Tournament but that didn’t make the loss sting any less. The Rams were trying to match the 1999 and 2000 WSSU teams that won consecutive CIAA titles.

The Rams (21-6) will have more basketball to play in the Division II Tournament but that didn’t makREe the loss sting any less. The Rams were trying to match the 1999 and 2000 WSSU teams that won consecutive CIAA titles.

Guard Byron Westmorland the Bulldogs with 27 points. and Dameatric Scott added 21. Branden Doughty chipped in nine points. and the Bulldogs shot 83 percent at the foul line (24 of 29).

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Shaw women shoot for third straight CIAA title

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina -- A rubber match in the CIAA championship Saturday night will settle the season series between Shaw and Fayetteville State.

Fayetteville State took the first game on Friday against Virginia Union 71-57 while Shaw came from behind in the final 12 minutes to top Elizabeth City State 76-61.

After splitting the season series with the visitors winning one apiece, the top two seeds in the tournament will meet at 5 p.m. Saturday for the title.

“They got size and we have size,” Shaw coach Jacques Curtis said. “It’s bigs going against bigs where some other teams don’t have the size we have, so we can really pound them on the glass, and they have really good guard play. We know that’s going to be a battle with them tomorrow.”

Fayetteville State won the first meeting 66-64 on Jan. 30 while Shaw took the second meeting 75-65 on Feb. 20.

VIDEO: Friday's action

 

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