NCAA bids up for grabs at SWAC Tournament

Despite hot and cold play all season, who would have thought Southern’s men’s and women’s teams would be riding win streaks going into Wednesday’s Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament in Birmingham, Ala.?
The men lost six straight before rebounding, winning its final three games against Alcorn State, Prairie View and Texas Southern.
SU (11-18, 9-9 SWAC) enters the tournament as the fifth seed and will face the fourth seed and defending SWAC Champion, Jackson State in the quarterfinal round at 8 p.m. at Fair Park Arena.
SU dominated JSU when the two teams met for the first time on Jan. 14, in the F.G. Clark Activity Center, beating the Tigers 85-69 as the Jaguars went on runs of 8-0, 10-0 and 9-0 to take a 42-33 lead into halftime.
Chris Davis led SU with 17 points, while Jazz Williams added a career-high 16 points, and Julius Ingram had 10 and a team-high six rebounds. SU outrebounded Jackson State 37-28 and held the SWAC’s top-scoring offense, averaging 84.3 ppg and 58.3-percent shooting in conference play, in check.
Plus, SU’s bench outscored JSU 45-4 as 10 of the 11 players that played all scored.
The next time the two met, the roles were reversed as JSU defeated SU 85-71 in Jackson, Mississippi. JSU had a huge second half in that game outscoring SU 54-37. The Tigers also outscored SU 44-22 on points in the paint, fast break points 16-6 and bench points 76-21, while shooting 53 percent from the field.
“To go deep into the tournament, we’ll definitely need to play a physical style of basketball,” said SU coach Rob Spivery. “We beat everyone with toughness when I was at Alabama State. That’s what we need here…Rebounding, scoring, shot blocking, just all around toughness.”
SU’s women (12-15, 10-8) enter as the fourth seed and winners of two, defeating first seed and defending SWAC Champion Prairie View, 43-34 and Texas Southern 45-42 in the Clark Center.
SU split games with Prairie View, with PV taking the first meeting, 56-41 as the Jaguars were outscored 33-18 in the first half. Starting guard Candice Thomas had a team-high 17 points and seven assists. Gaati Werema added 14 points, two blocks and three steals and Shavonne Smith scored 10 points to go along with four assists and four steals.
SU took the second meeting at home in the F.G. Clark Center, edging PV 43-34. Senior center Fredrieka Lewis scored a team-high 15 points as Deidra Jackson added 13 points, three assists and three steals. Freda Allen also had seven points, 11 rebounds and four steals.
SU held PV to 26 percent shooting, and the Lady Tigers only shot 40 percent from the free throw line. SU outscored PV 27-19 in the first half and 16-15 in the second.
NOTES
SU’s men and women lost to the teams they will face Wednesday in the first round of last years SWAC Tournament. The men were defeated by Jackson State, 74-65 as Grant Maxey had 15 points in the first half. Maxey finished with 22 points and nine rebounds, and Trey Johnson had 16 points, four assists and three rebounds, while Catraiva Givens had 15 and Julius Young 10.
The women were defeated 80-49 by Prairie View in the first round as Shavonne Smith scored a career-high 31 points. Smith also added three assists and three steals, while point guard Candice Thomas added 18, four assists and two steals. Both PVU and JSU claimed SWAC titles last season.