NASHVILLE — The Tennessee State University women's basketball team opens the 2022-23 season at home against Fisk on Monday night. Head coach Ty Evans enters his third season at the helm after finishing last season with a 12-19 record (6-12 OVC). 

The Matchup: Tennessee State Tigers (0-0, 0-0 OVC) vs. Fisk Bulldogs (1-0, 0-0 GCAC)
Date/Time: Monday, November 7 at 5:30 pm.
Location: Gentry Center || Nashville, Tenn.
TV: ESPN3 — Will Brown (pxp), Alexis Pierce (analyst)
LIVE STATS

SERIES INFORMATION: This is the 13th all-time meeting between Jefferson Street rivals Tennessee State University and Fisk University. The two North Nashville Universities are separated by a mere 0.9 miles from John A. Merritt Blvd. to 17th Ave. N. The Tigers have dominated over their local counterparts winning the last 11 matchups. The Tigers opened with Fisk last season and took down the Bulldogs 94-48 in their season opener.

MIDDLE OF THE PACK: TSU was slotted to finish fifth in the 2022-2023 Ohio Valley Conference women's basketball preseason coaches' poll out of the 10-team ranking. Sophomore guard Gia Adams was named to the All-OVC Preseason team. The Lady Tigers received 95 total points and one first-place vote in the preseason ranking that was voted on by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.

FAMILIAR FACES: After welcoming in 12 newcomers a season ago, head coach Ty Evans will be a bit more familiar with his team when they take the court tomorrow evening against Fisk as he returns eight players from last year's 2021-2022 squad. TSU's returners have combined for 963 career points, as Gia Adams leads the group with 400 career points. Saniah Parker is second in the group with 204 points, followed by Sierra McCullough (143 pts) and Kianni Westbrook (116 pts).

A NEW CREW: In addition to returning eight players from last year's team, Evans and his staff have brought in eight new faces, four of whom have D1 playing experience. The Tigers will welcome two high school signees, five four-year transfers, and one junior college transfer to mixing in with their solid group of returning players. TSU's four D1 transfers Ashley Malone (115 pts), Eboni Williams (855 pts), Erica Haynes-Overton (1,056 pts), and Lyric Cole (198 pts) have combined for 2,224 career points. Corina Suarez-Tudela joins the Tigers from the Juco level as she scored 512 points across two seasons at Garden City CC and Cochise College.

HOME GROWN: After having just one player from the state of Tennessee on last year's roster, the Tigers will see five faces from the Volunteer State on this year's team. Both Ashley Malone and Erica Haynes-Overton return to Music City as transfers, as they are both Nashville natives. Malone was a two-time All-State and All-County player at Pope John Paul II High School, while Haynes-Overton suited up at East Nashville Magnet as a four-year letter winner and state champion. True freshman Zyion Shannon joins the list of local products as she comes to TSU from Stewarts Creek High School in Smyrna. Lyric Cole joins the Tigers after transferring in from Austin Peay, the sophomore forward who played her high school ball in Memphis at White Station High School.

PROVEN SCORER: Erica Haynes-Overton will begin her sixth year as a college basketball player when she suits up for TSU against the Fisk on Monday. The sixth-year grad transfer joins the Tigers after spending the last two years at Kansas. Only playing in five games for the Jayhawks, Haynes-Overton did much of her scoring and accolade-collecting at East Tennessee State from 2017-2020. The 5-6 guard left ETSU with 1,056 career points throughout 65 games, for an average of 16.1 points per game.

SHARPSHOOTER: As a junior college player, Corina Suarez-Tudela proved that she could shoot the three ball throughout two seasons at Garden City CC and Cochise College. The Spain native hit 36-of-130 three-pointers in n her first season at Garden City, followed by a 33 percent clip last season (59-of-179) at Cochise.
 
SIX FOR 6": This season TSU has six players that stand 6'0" or taller. This is the second year in a row that TSU has had six players 6'0" or taller and just the third time since the 2016-2017 season.