The Dillard Women’s Basketball Team Plays A Pair of Conference Games This Week

New Orleans –  The Dillard University women's basketball team (8-11, 1-2 GCAC) plays a pair of Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) opponents this week starting on Thursday, Feb. 3, when Rust College (18-2, 3-0 GCAC) comes to town for a 5:30 p.m. contest.at Dent Hall. The team then travels to Nashville, Tenn. to take on Fisk University (8-13, 2-1 GCAC) on Saturday, Feb. 5, for a 3 p.m. game at Henderson A. Johnson Arena.

About the Dillard Lady Bleu Devils
Dillard went 1-2 in the month of January. Before the first game in January, the program didn't play a game for over a month and went nearly two months without a home game at Dent Hall. Last time out, Dillard lost 71-55 to Philander Smith on Jan. 27 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The program was led by Ariana Hart's 12 points. Diniaa McZeal chipped in with 11 points and two steals off the bench. Ayani Cockrell had a steady all-around performance with nine points and six rebounds. Tabreea Gandy put up seven points, six rebounds and four assists.

Taylor Dewitt was named the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Co-Player of the Week on Dec. 21 after averaging 13 points and five rebounds per game. It was the first time that she has been honored by the league office in her career.

Dillard has sported a balanced attack with nine different players averaging 4.9 or more points a game.
Dewitt leads the team with her average of 7.9 points per game. Cockrell is totaling 7.4 points per game. Cassidy Lowe is getting 6.8 points per game. McZeal averages 6.4 points per game and leads the team with her 21 made threes. Gandy has been steady all-around with an average of 5.4 points and 5.1 rebounds. She also leads the team in both assists (42) and steals (36). Sharan Turner is getting 5.0 points a contest. Hart has an average of 5.8 points per game. The program is shooting 37 percent from the field, 20.9 percent from three-point range and 63 percent from the free throw line. The team is also pulling down 41.9 rebounds and dishing out 14.05 assists per game.

Dillard went 2-8 last season in what was very much a start-and-stop season that featured 13 cancellation or postponements. The program returns 10 members of last year's squad this season including the team's leading scorer in Sharan Turner (10.4 points per game), the leading rebounder in JaQuanna Hunter (8.6 rebounds per game) plus the player, Rayah Haynes, that ranked second on the team in assists (26 assists). Other returners for Dillard include Dewitt, Ajayah Simpson, Diniaa McZeal, Kyra McWhorter, Tia Perry, Destiny Collins and Sydni John-Baptiste. The program also welcomes in eight newcomers in Gandy, Hart, Lowe, Sequoia Emmanuel, Cockrell, Jordyn Rowe, Alexis Gie and Erika Diaz.

The head coach of the program in his ninth season is Norbert Rome. This is his 14th consecutive season working the sidelines at Dillard as he served as an assistant coach of the program prior to being named the head coach prior to the 2012 season. In his time as a head coach, Rome has led the Lady Bleu Devils to a 117-134 overall record including a mark of 52-60 in the always rugged Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC). His teams have won 19 or more games in a season three different times including going 23-6 with a mark of 9-3 in the GCAC in 2017-18 on their way to winning both the GCAC Regular Season Title and GCAC Tournament Championship plus a berth into the NAIA Women's Basketball Tournament. He also individually secured 2017-18 GCAC Coach of the Year honors for the first time. He made it back-to-back years with the GCAC Tournament Championship in 2018-19 when the team went 21-12 overall with a 9-5 mark in GCAC as the team made its second straight berth into NAIA Women's Basketball Tournament

About the Rust College Lady Bearcats
The program's head coach in his fourth year at Rust is Eric Jackson, Jr.. Coach Jackson is an impressive 77-28 at Rust since taking over the program. He was named the GCAC Coach of the Year in 2020 and led Rust to a 13-2 and the GCAC regular season title in 2021. Rust College is based in Holly Springs, Miss. The program is 18-2 this season. The team sports a balanced attack with Shay Johnson coming in as the leading scorer at 10.9 points per game. Johnson also leads the team with 105 assists. Jasmine Coleman sports an average of 9.7 points per game.  She also leads the team with 39 steals. Katie Blackmon leads the team in rebounding at 10.3 boards per game. She is also the leading shot blocker with 23. Zoe Alexander has 30 steals. Rust College is averaging 70.1 points per game this season.

About the Fisk University Lady Bulldogs.
The program's head coach in her third year is Janine Davis. Fisk is based in Nashville, Tenn. and are in their first year since rejoining the GCAC. The program is 8-13 this season and have a game against Philander Smith on Feb. 3 before welcoming in Dillard. Jaedyn Dunn leads the team with an averaging 12.1 points per game. She is also averaging 4.6 assists per game. Zip Davis ranks second on the squad with her average of 11.8 points per game. Mya Allen has been steady with her average of 9.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. She also has 25 steals. Zayla Jones is the team leader with 29 steals. The Lady Bulldogs were able to nip Dillard 50-49 last time these teams met on Jan. 24 at Dent Hall. Fisk College is averaging 56.6 points per game. The team has won three in a row.

After the two games this week, Dillard returns home to host Tougaloo College on Feb. 12 at Dent Hall for the 2022 Bleu Devil Classic.

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