NASHVILLE — The Tennessee State University women's basketball team opens the 2023-24 season at home against Wilberforce on Monday night. Head coach Ty Evans enters his fourth season at the helm after finishing last season with an 11-18 record (7-11 OVC). 

The Matchup: Tennessee State Tigers (0-0, 0-0 OVC) vs. Wilberforce (1-3)
Date/Time: Monday, November 6 at 5:00 p.m.
Location: Gentry Center || Nashville, Tenn.
TV: ESPN+ — Greg Pogue (pxp), Albert Dawson (analyst)
LIVE STATS

SERIES INFORMATION: This will be the third meeting all time between TSU and Wilberforce. The two schools first played in 2019 with TSU taking the inaugural matchup in a 83-65 victory. The Tigers hosted the Bulldogs last season and won 105-54 to take the 2-0 series lead. Zyion Shannon finished with a season-high 20 points in last year's win, while Saniah Parker chipped in 11.

OPENING TIP: Head coach Ty Evans returns for his fourth season after leading the Tigers to their second straight appearance in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, something that had not been done since the 2014-15 / 2015-16 seasons. With eight returners and six new pieces, Evans and his staff have their eyes set on more than just a third straight trip to the OVC tournament. "I have my own standards and last year for us I feel like we didn't take a step up, this year we need to take a step up and we plan on doing that", stated Evans in an interview with TSU basketball analyst Greg Pogue. "Our mindset right now to me has been the best it's been at this point in the preseason since I've been here".

PORTAL PURSUERS: After losing eight players from last year's team, Evans and his staff turned to the transfer portal to fill the gaps on this year's roster. The Tigers signed five DI transfers through the portal, while also finding Kameria Piggee from the Juco ranks. TSU added Jordan Aikens who previously played at fellow HBCU Southern, and Diamond Cannon who played one year in the OVC at UT Martin. Aaniya Webb joins the team after one season at St. Bonaventure, while Caitlin Anderson comes to the Music City after four years at Indiana State. Sanaa' St. Andre joins the team after spending three seasons at Kansas City.

UPPER CLASS: With no freshman on the roster, this year's team will mark one of Evans' more experienced squads. The Tigers have 12 upperclassmen with five graduate students, three seniors, and four juniors, while also having two sophomores on the roster.
 
FROM FAR AND WIDE: TSU's rosters see players come from 11 different states and one country. The Tigers only have two players from Tennessee in Lyric Cole and Zyion Shannon, with Shannon being the local product from Smyrna. Newcomer Kameria Piggee hails from California, while Corina Suarez-Tudela is from Span. Diamond Cannon comes to TSU after originally playing her high school ball in Michigan, while Aaniya Webb is from Nebraska. The Tigers only have two players that are from south of Tennessee with Nia Hicks hailing from Georgia, Sanaa' St. Andre being from Louisiana.
 
RETURNING BUCKETS: The Tigers return combined points from last year's team. Saniah Parker is the returning leading scorer after averaging 9.1 ppg and finishing with 263 points. Lyric Cole finished with 181 points while scoring 6.7 ppg. Zyion Shannon returns after scoring 104 points as a true freshman.
 
EYEING DOWN 1K: Having not played since March of 2021, Eboni Williams is set to make her TSU debut after missing the 2021-22 seasons and 2022-23 season. Williams joined the team last season but was unable to play due to injury. She played in 83 games over three years as a Moc and finished with 855 career points. Williams is just 45 points shy of 1,000 for her career and will look to hit the mark soon.
 
LOTS OF BALL: Caitlin Anderson joins the team this year as a grad student after playing four seasons at Indiana State. Anderson played 110 career games as a Sycamore, which is the most on the TSU roster. She is expected to take over the point guard role after averaging 5.72 ppg and 2.65 assists per game over four years.