The Dillard Women’s Basketball Team Hosts Senior Day Contest Against Philander Smith and Finishes Up The Regular Season Against Rust College This Week

New Orleans –  The Dillard University women's basketball team (9-13, 2-4 GCAC) plays its final home contest of the season as the program welcomes in Philander Smith College (13-5, 5-1 GCAC) on Thursday, Feb. 17, at 5:30 p.m. at Dent Hall. The team then finishes up the regular season on the road and takes on Rust College (22-2, 6-0 GCAC) on Monday, Feb. 21, at 7:30 p.m.

All students/fans are encouraged to attend the home finale on Feb. 17 against the Philander Smith 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..

The game will featured a pregame ceremony for the team's three seniors Rayah Haynes, JaQuanna Hunter and Sharan Turner.

About the Dillard Lady Bleu Devils
Dillard lost a heartbreaking 70-68 game to Tougaloo College on Feb. 12 in the Bleu Devil Classic. DU had a 14-point lead after the first half, but couldn't hold it and lost in the final seconds on a made Tougaloo layup as time expired. Diniaa McZeal led the team with her 12 points. She was one of four Dillard players to reach double figures along with Tabreea Gandy, Cassidy Lowe and Sydni John-Baptiste, who all had 10 points. Gandy also had seven assists, six rebounds and three steals. Lowe had six rebounds and two steals. Tia Perry had a steady game with eight points, six rebounds and five assists. JaQuanna Hunter had a game-high 10 rebounds.

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 10 different players averaging 4.4 or more points a game. McZeal leads the team with her average of 7.8 points per game and 33 made threes. Dewitt is getting 7.2 points per game. Lowe is picking up 7.3 points per game. Ayani Cockrell sports an average of 5.9 points per game. Gandy has been steady all-around with an average of 5.9 points and 5.2 rebounds. She also leads the team in both assists (52) and steals (40). Turner is getting 5.8 points a contest. Ariana Hart has an average of 5.4 points per game. Erika Diaz has an average of 4.7 points per contest. Jordyn Rowe is picking up 4.6 points per game. The program is shooting 37 percent from the field, 21.9 percent from three-point range and 63.2 percent from the free throw line. The team is also pulling down 42 rebounds and dishing out 14.5 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 Hunter (8.6 rebounds per game) plus the player, 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 118-136 overall record including a mark of 53-62 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 Philander Smith College Panthers
The program's head coach is Brandon Greenwood. He is in his fifth year running the program. The team is 20-5 on the season and has a mark of 5-1 in the GCAC. The team has been led by Rakia Lane. Lane is averaging 14.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and is second on the team with 51 steals. De'Vena Smith sports an average of 13.5 points per game. She is second on the club with her average of 7.7 rebounds per contest. Dai Brown is averaging 9.6 points per game. She also leads the team in steals with 54. Dasia Turner is the leading rebounder at 10.0 rebounds per contest. PSC defeated Dillard 71-55 on Jan. 27.

About the Rust College Bearcats
The program's head coach in his fourth year at Rust is Eric Jackson, Jr.. Coach Jackson is an impressive 81-28 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 22-2 this season. The team sports a balanced attack with Shay Johnson coming in as the leading scorer at 11.3 points per game. Johnson also leads the team with 127 assists. Jasmine Coleman sports an average of 9.5 points per game.  She also leads the team with 41 steals. Katie Blackmon leads the team in rebounding at 10.4 boards per game. She is also the leading shot blocker with 26. Zoe Alexander has 34 steals. Rust College is 11-0 in home games this season. Rust defeated Dillard 65-47 on Feb. 3 at Dent Hall.

After the two games this week, Dillard is off to Little Rock, Arkansas to participate in the GCAC Basketball Championships from Feb. 25-27. The team's seeding and times of competition will be determined upon the conclusion of the regular season on Monday.

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