Full Women's Basketball Schedule Here

SAVANNAH, Ga.- The Savannah State women's basketball team has released their 2023-24 hoop schedule and it will be a challenging one.

Head coach Cedric Baker has put together a schedule that features nine teams who had winning records last season and two that advanced to the NCAA Division II National Tournament.

The non-conference schedule includes Trinity Baptist of the National Christian College Athletic Association, Morris College of the NAIA and Peach Belt members South Carolina-Beaufort, Georgia Southwestern and Columbus State.

"We put together a schedule that is favorable to our fan base," states Baker.  He added that he kept his student-athletes in mind also when developing the schedule. "It's balanced in terms of the team meeting their academic requirements."

Baker states that playing the three Peach Belt teams will make his Lady Tigers better during the stretch of the season, saying in order to be the best you have to play the best.

"USCB gets us prepared for post-tournament play beyond the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament. Georgia Southwestern and Columbus State have playoff experience. GSW made it to the second round of the Division II tournament during the 2021-22 season and CSU went to the Division II Final Four in 2000 and 2001."

Savannah State will play home and home dates with SIAC Eastern Division members Fort Valley State, Albany State, Clark Atlanta, Edward Waters, Allen and Benedict and single games against SIAC Western Division members Miles, Tuskegee, Spring Hill, LeMoyne-Owen and Lane.

"Every conference game will be a competitive game each night," says Baker.

The Lady Tigers will also have a home and home series with Morris College.

Savannah State finished last season with a 17-8 overall record and a 13-6 conference mark. Baker, who will be starting his 29th year as a head coach, has 397 career wins and needs four more to reach 400. The Columbus, Georgia native has been the head coach at SSU since 2003 and has won 208 games for the Orange & Blue.

At the end of the regular season SSU was ranked 10th in the Division II South regional rankings. But so were Tuskegee who was ranked sixth. Georgia Southwestern was ranked third in the Southeast regional rankings.

Tuskegee finished last year ranked 22nd in the NCAA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll while Georgia Southwestern was two slots back at 24th. Georgia Southwestern had a 26-7 record last year and made it to the Div. II Sweet 16. The Hurricanes were 14th in the final Division II Sports Information Directors Association National poll.

Savannah State tips off the regular season on November 17 by hosting Trinity. They will play Division II newcomer USC-Beaufort on Nov. 21 in Savannah's EnMarket Arena as part of the Savannah Hoops Invitational. This will be the inaugural season for USC Beaufort basketball.

The Lady Tigers will start a three-game home stand on Nov. 25 with contests against Kentucky State, Central State (Nov. 27) and Georgia Southwestern (December 2).

After a trip to Birmingham, Alabama to play Miles on Dec. 4, SSU returns home for another three-game home stand against Columbus State (Dec. 9), Tuskegee (Dec. 16) and Spring Hill (Dec. 18) to close out the first half of the schedule.

Savannah State opens the second portion of the schedule on the road at LeMoyne-Owen (January 4) and Lane (Jan. 6) before a home tilt with Morris on Jan. 8.

Road games in mid-January at Fort Valley State (Jan. 13) and Albany State (Jan. 15) are followed by a home game with Clark Atlanta (Jan. 22).

The Lady Tigers close out the first month of the 2024 with contests at Edward Waters, (Jan. 27), Allen (Jan. 29) and Benedict (Jan. 31).

Five of the final seven games of the regular season will be at Tiger Arena.

SSU will host games against Benedict and Allen on Feb. 3 and 5 respectively, Edward Waters on Feb. 17, Albany State on Feb. 24 and Fort Valley State on Feb. 26. Late season road game will be a trip to Atlanta to play Clark Atlanta (Feb. 10) and Sumter, South Carolina to play Morris College (Feb. 19).

Full Women's Basketball Schedule Here