OPENING TIP — The Tennessee State women's basketball team will open its third consecutive Ohio Valley Conference Tournament appearance with a first-round matchup against Morehead State on Wednesday afternoon in Evansville, Ind., at the Ford Center.  
 
TSU saw its postseason dream stay alive as Lyric Cole made a layup with just six seconds left on the clock to give TSU the lead in its final game of the regular season at UT Martin. The Tigers then had to wait a few hours for Southern Indiana to secure a win over SEMO which solidified the Lady Tigers as the eighth seed in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

The Matchup: #8 Tennessee State (10-18, 7-11) vs. #5 Morehead (15-14, 10-8)
Date/Time: Wednesday, March 6 at 1:00 PM CT
Location: Ford Center || Evansville, Ind.     
TV: ESPN+  Jeff Hemm (play-by-play), Lexi Ayala (analyst)
Radio: WNSR Greg Pogue (play-by-play), Albert Dawson (analyst)
 
SERIES INFORMATION: This will be the 73^rd all-time matchup between TSU and MOR. The Eagles lead the all-time series 40-32. The two teams split the regular season series with both teams winning on its own home court. Morehead picked up an 86-78 win in Morehead while the Tigers won 71-58 inside the Gentry Center. The last time the two matched up in the OVC tournament was in March of 2015 as the Lady Tigers earned an 81-66 victory to go to the semi-finals.   
 
NUMBERS AND NOTES
 
21.5: The number of turnovers that TSU forced per game during the regular season. The Lady Tigers finished as the only team in the OVC to force 20+ turnovers per outing and ranked 8^th amongst NCAA DI teams. Tennessee Tech and SEMO were the next closest team with 18.4. TSU forced a season-high 36 turnovers against both Wilberforce and UT Southern. The Tigers forced 20+ turnovers 14 times this season.
 
6: The number of weekly awards that Sanaa' St. Andre earned this year. The Transfer from Kansas City earned the league's Newcomer of the Week five times and was named the Player of the Week once. Caitlin Anderson and Jordan Aikens were the only other Lady Tigers to take home weekly awards, both earning Newcomer of the Week.
 
TOURNEY TIME: This will be the 29^th OVC tournament appearance for TSU. The Tigers are 10-18 in OVC tournament games since 1987 and are 4-7 in their last 11 games played in the tournament. TSU was knocked out in the first round last season by SIUE 71-64.
 
BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK: With this year's appearance in the OVC tournament, head coach Ty Evans becomes the first TSU head coach to lead a team to three straight OVC tournaments since Larry Joe Inman took TSU to four straight from 2012-16.
 
FEBRUARY FINISH: After going a combined 0-18 during February in his first two seasons, Ty Evans picked up four wins in the month for the second straight year after going 4-4 last year. The Tigers finished the month 4-5, with all four wins coming inside the Gentry Center.
 
SANAA' SHINES: First year Lady-Tiger Sanaa' St. Andre was a bright spot for TSU all season as she finished the regular season as the team's leading scorer and near the top of the league's scoring leaders. The Kansas City transfer is averaging 15.4 ppg while logging 400 points. She averaged 17.9 pp during league play while amassing 304 points. She logged 19 double-digit scoring games, which includes five 20+ point performances and a high of 37 against Tennessee Tech.   
 
SHANNON'S SURGE: Zyion Shannon showed no signs of a sophomore slump this season as they guard finished second on the team with 11.3 ppg. Shannon played in all 28 games with four starts. She finished the year third in minutes with 717, and second in points with 315. She logged 18 double-digit scoring games with 14 of them coming in OVC play.