NASHVILLE — The Tennessee State women's basketball team will make their first trip to Texas in eight years as they are set to take on No. 18 Baylor. This will be TSU's final D1 opponent before they are set to start conference play on December 29.

The Matchup: Tennessee State Tigers (4-5, 0-0 OVC) vs. Baylor (7-2, 0-0 Big 12)
Date/Time: Thursday, December 15 at 11:00 a.m.
Location: Ferrell Center || Waco, Texas
TV: ESPN+
Live Stats

SERIES INFORMATION: This will be the second-ever matchup between TSU and Baylor. The two schools first matched up on November 26, 1982, with the Bears coming away with a 72-65 neutral site victory in Cookeville, Tenn.

SCOUTING BAYLOR: The Bears come into Thursday's matchup with a 7-2 record as they are the No. 18 team in the nation. Baylor won their first three games of the season before falling to No. 19 Maryland 73-68. BU's second loss came against No. 22 Michigan 84-75. The Bears have not allowed more than 36 points in their last two outings as they defeated Houston Christian 79-35, followed by a 91-36 win over UT Arlington last Wednesday. Baylor is averaging 77.4 points per game while giving up 55.9. Sarah Andrews is averaging 14.5 ppg, followed by Jaden Owens who is putting up 11.7 ppg.
 
TAKE ME TO TEXAS: This will be TSU's first trip to the Lone Star State in eight years. The Tigers last traveled to Texas eight years ago to the date when they took on Texas A&M Corpus Christi on December 15, 2014. TSU came away with the 72-61 win. The Tigers last took on a team from Texas in November of 2015 as they hosted Texas Southern University, winning 72-56.  
 
NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK: Erica Haynes-Overton earned her first OVC weekly honor as she was named the OVC Newcomer of the Week on Tuesday morning after averaging 17.0 ppg, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.5 steals against Southern Illinois and Stetson last week. The transfer from Kansas is second on the team in scoring with 14.4 ppg. She had a season-high 32 points against Omaha and has had three 20+ point outings.
 
WE FLY HIGH, NO LIE, YOU KNOW THIS, BALLIN: This trip to Baylor will be the second and final time this season that the Lady Tigers will travel by plane. TSU flew to Kansas City for their second game of the season.
 
DOUBLE TROUBLE: Gia Adams and Erica Haynes-Overton both find themselves in the top five in the OVC in scoring. Adams ranks second in the league with 16.7 ppg, while Haynes-Overton finds herself in fourth with 14.4 ppg.  
 
TOP 15: TSU went from 15^th in the nation in forced turnovers to 13^th after forcing 20 against Stetson on Sunday. The Lady Tigers are forcing 23.33 turnovers per contest which leads the OVC, while also leading the league in steals per game with 12.2, which is the 18th-best among D1 teams.