The Dillard Women’s Basketball Team Hosts the 2022 Bleu Devil Classic This Weekend Against Tougaloo College

Watch the Wah-lah! TV Broadcast | Purchase A Bleu Devil Classic Ticket | Purchase a Ticket for the Billy Ray Hobley Scholarship Reception New Orleans – The Dillard University women's basketball team (9-12, 2-3 GCAC) returns home to host Tougaloo College (7-15, 0-5 GCAC) in the annual Bleu Devil Classic on Saturday, Feb. 12, at 5:30 p.m. at Dent Hall. All students/fans are encouraged to attend the home game on Feb. 12 against the Tougaloo College as long as they can show a COVID-19 vaccination card or a negative test result from the last 72 hours that will be checked before entry is allowed at the gym at Dent Hall and purchased a ticket. If fans are unable to attend the game in-person, Wah-lah! TV will be broadcasting the game with Charles McNeil (play-by-play) and Hekma Harrison (color) on the call. Click on this link or the link at the top of this story to watch the game live. About the Dillard Lady Bleu Devils Dillard went 1-1 last week. The team suffered a 65-47 loss to No. 25 Rust College on Thursday, Feb. 3, at Dent Hall. Tabreea Gandy led the team with her 14 points and nine rebounds. Diniaa McZeal put up nine points and four rebounds. Sharan Turner had seven points and four rebounds. Sydni John-Baptiste totaled seven points and four rebounds. DU had an offensive explosion on the road against Fisk University as they defeated the Lady Bulldogs 85-79. McZeal had a career day with 25 points on seven made threes. Sharan Turner totaled 16 points and six rebounds. Tia Perry had a near double-double of nine points and 11 rebounds. Cassidy Lowe totaled 12 points and two steals. Jordyn Rowe also reached double figures with 11 points. 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 4.7 or more points a game. McZeal leads the team with her average of 7.6 points per game and 31 made threes. Dewitt is getting 7.4 points per game. Lowe is picking up 7.1 points per game. Ayani Cockrell sports an average of 6.4 points per game. Gandy has been steady all-around with an average of 5.6 points and 5.1 rebounds. She also leads the team in both assists (45) and steals (37). Turner is getting 5.7 points a contest. Hart has an average of 5.4 points per game. Erika Diaz has an average of 5.0 points per contest. Rowe is picking up 4.7 points per game. The program is shooting 36 percent from the field, 22.1 percent from three-point range and 62.8 percent from the free throw line. The team is also pulling down 42 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 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, McZeal, Kyra McWhorter, Perry and John-Baptiste. The program also welcomes in eight newcomers in Gandy, Hart, Lowe, Sequoia Emmanuel, Cockrell, Rowe, Alexis Gie and 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 118-135 overall record including a mark of 53-61 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 Tougaloo College Lady Bulldogs The program's head coach in his fourth year is Keith Barnes Sr. Coach Barnes is also the school's athletic director. Tougaloo is based in Tougaloo, Miss. The program is 7-15 this season and 0-5 in GCAC play. The team is coming in on a nine-game losing streak. Berniya Hardin leads the team at 11.1 points per game. She also leads the team with 43 assists and 36 steals. Dominque Caldwell is putting up 11 points per game. She is getting 4.5 rebounds per game. Morgan Hunter is the leading rebounder at 6.3 per game. Tougaloo is 1-11 in road games this season. The Lady Bulldogs fell to Dillard by a 60-41 score on Jan. 20 to open conference. After hosting the Bleu Devil Classic this week, Dillard finishes up the home schedule and hosts Philander Smith on Thursday, Feb. 17, at 5:30 p.m. for Senior Day. The team plays its final regular season game on the road against Rust College on Monday, Feb. 21, at 5:30 p.m. Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Bleu Devils by following Dillard Athletics on Twitter at @GeauxDU, Facebook at Facebook.com/dillardbleudevils/ and Instagram at Instagram.com/dillardbleudevils/