SU releases hoops schedules

Tournaments around the country await Southern’s men’s and women’s basketball teams as the teams released their 2009-10 schedules.
The men’s schedule includes two tournaments along with trips to Brigham Young and a pair of Big 12 Conference foes. The women’s slate includes a tournament host-ed by Ohio State.
The Jaguars of coach Rob Spivery will be trying to rebound from last season’s 8-23 campaign. They finished fifth in the SWAC with an 8-10 mark. Meanwhile, coach Sandy Pugh enters her 10th season two wins shy of her 150th as head coach of the Jags. The women finished the 2008-09 with a 16-14 overall record and a 11-7 mark in Southwestern Athletic Conference play. SU finished second in the SWAC and earned a bid in the postseason Women’s NIT.
The teams open the season with games at the F.G. Clack Activity Center, with the women taking on Dillard in a Nov. 10 exhibition while the men open against Xavier-New Orleans Nov. 11.
The men’s nonconference slate includes traveling to face Wofford and either Presbyterian or Seattle in the Las Vegas Invitational on Nov. 27-28. The women’s nonconference slate includes early tilts against Northwestern State, Southeastern Louisiana and UL-Lafayette.
The week after the Vegas trip, the men will compete in the Stephen F. Austin Invitational, facing host SFA on Dec. 4 and Central Arkansas the following day.
In early season games, Southern — which opens the campaign in a Nov. 11 home game against Xavier of New Orleans — will visit Oklahoma State on Nov. 18 and Brigham Young on Nov. 24. The Jaguars will also travel to face Baylor on Dec. 22.
The women will leave Ohio State’s Buckeye Classic in November to finish its pre-SWAC schedule against South Alabama (Dec. 12) before hosting Tougaloo (Dec. 14). SU then travels to face Nicholls State before heading east to play Florida.
The teams open the 18-game SWAC campaign at Prairie View A&M on Monday, Jan. 4.