This Saturday, the Prairie View A&M Panthers men and women’s basketball team will host the Texas Southern Tigers in a classic cross-town match up. The Lady Panthers (3-16, 2-7) defeated the Lady Tigers (1-8, 3-15) in their last meeting by 10 points, while the men’s team lost 72-88.Their last outing together was played at the Health and Physical Education Building at Texas Southern in front of 830 spectators. In that game the Lady Panthers rallied in the second half and held the Lady Tigers to a measly four points in the final 6:48. Ciara Sanders led all scorers with 21 points.
The Panthers are led by freshman force Twila Stokes who leads the SWAC in rebounding (182) and ranks third in the conference with 28 blocks. Stokes is a 6-footer from Hawthorne, California. Also leading the way are guards Sanders and Tanesha Barefield. Sanders is leading the team with 14.8 ppg and Barefield isn’t far behind with 9.8.
The Panthers men’s team (0-9, 3-17), get set to face the Tigers (2-7, 4-17). The Panthers are coming off of a close road defeat to Alabama State.
In their last outing versus Texas Southern, Prairie View kept the game neck and neck until the final eight minutes of the game, allowing the Tigers to run away with the victory.
Led by (interim) head coach, Darrell Hawkins, the Panthers are looking to earn their first conference win of the season. Hawkins is in his first season as head coach after serving as the assistant coach for the past three seasons.
Leading the way for the Panthers are seniors Anthony Oha and Oscar Thompson. Oha is currently leading the team in three major statistical categories: scoring (12.9 ppg), rebounds (7.1), and blocks (0.8). A native of Irving, Texas, Thompson is averaging a respectable 10.5 points per game.
Another player to look out for is freshman guard Jeremy Wiley. Wiley has been playing very well in his first season with the Panthers, averaging an even 10 points per game and leading the team in assists (4.7) and steals (1.9). His 4.7 assist per game is also the best in the conference.