Expect the Unexpected from the Lady Tigers Rodney Bush 03/12/09 Birmingham, AL–When Texas Southern women basketball head coach Yolanda Wells-Broughton stepped on campus, she told everyone to “expect the unexpected.” Not many really grasped what she was saying. After all, she inherited at team that won five games in each of the last four seasons and they had not earned a trip to the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Championship Tournament since 2005. “The media didn’t have us at the tournament in the preseason polls. They had us picked to finish dead last,” Wells-Broughton recalled. Not only did coach Wells-Broughton exceed the preseason pick by finishing seventh in the conference, her team ended the season winning four of their last five games. The Lady Tigers had 10 overall wins, a feat not seen since 2003. TSU earned a spot in the 2009 SWAC Championship tournament out right. They did not need another team to win or lose for them to head to Birmingham.  Texas Southern faced Southern in the first round of the tournament. The Lady Tigers fell behind early in the game, although they kept it close. Tina Brown (SR, Oklahoma City, OK) led the way with nine points in the first half. She knocked down back to back three-point shots for Texas Southern’s first six points. Brandi Justice (JR, Missouri City, TX) and Ashlee Cooper (JR, Baton Rouge, LA) came off the bench to provide enough offense to keep the game within reach. TSU trailed 18-23 at half time. Brown got the Lady Tigers started in the second half by scoring the team’s first five points of the period. TSU was within two points of the lead (23-25). Texas Southern hit a shooting slump after that point and soon trailed 27-41 with 12:05 on the clock.  “We had shot attempts but we were not making them,” said coach Wells-Broughton. “We couldn’t get it going. We were never really comfortable.” The Lady Tigers top scorer, Trikeyia East (JR, Houston, TX) started to get into the offense. She helped bring the deficit to single digits, but it was a little too late to pull out the win. TSU falls to Southern 49-57.  Despite the outcome, the Lady Tigers fought hard and gave it their all in a game that some never expected them to play.  “That is an accomplishment in itself, said Brown. “We’ve never been here before and like coach said we fought hard to get here. This year was going to be a fresh start for the team. We came here and we played hard.” “We had a goal at the beginning of the season. We didn’t quite get there, but we will be back next year,” said Justice. “I’m extremely proud of my team. They were not going to settle and be the complacent team they had been,” said coach Wells-Broughton. “The one thing we’re really disappointed about…at least two of my kids ranked in the top three of the [SWAC] standings and didn’t get a vote [for the All-SWAC team], but we will take care of that in the future.” Brown was the high scorer of the game with 19 points. East had 10 points, six steals and three assists. Justice has 10 points and two steals. The Lady Tigers finished the season 8-10 in conference and 10-20 overall.  “We have a system in place; we changed the culture and we got some structure in place. Once my kids got to experience success, they started believing in it and that’s the key to winning. And I think the most important thing now is to be consistent.” The future of Lady Tigers basketball looks extremely bright…now you can truly expect the unexpected.”