Texas Southern dominate Mississippi Valley State, 88-58

Story and photo by Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (January 25, 2020) The Texas Southern Tigers jumped out to a 43-26 lead at halftime in route to a 88-58 win over the Mississippi Valley State Devilettes at the Fertitta Center on the campus of the University of Houston. The last minute venue change from the Health and Physical Education Arena due to a power outage on the TSU campus.

The Tigers (10-7, 5-1 SWAC) overwhelmed the Devilettes early in the game, claiming a 30-10 lead after 10 minutes of play, with Mississippi Valley outscoring TSU 16-13 in the second quarter. TSU go back to their 20-point lead in the third quarter (67-47), increasing their to 30 points in the fourth quarter (21-11).

Ciani Cryor (Philadelphia, PA, Rutgers) led the scoring with 30 points, followed by Nina Mitchell (Bay City, Texas, New Mexico Junior College) with 15. Guards Richelle Velez (Lake Jackson, Texas, Kilgore College) and Atalya Bridges (Lanett, Alabama, Shelton State) with 15 and 10 points, respectively.

TSU shot 50.7% from the field (36-of-51), also with 62.5% (10-16) from the free throw line. The Devilettes could only manage 36& from the field and 62.5% from the line. Mitchell tallied nine rebounds, six of them on offense while Cryor had six steals. For Mississippi Valley State, Natalia Cotten scored 12 points, while Angelica Darcus pulled down seven rebounds.

Next up for TSU is a January 27 match up with Arkansas-Pine Bluff with at 7:30 p.m. at home.