2024–25 Southern Lady Jaguars basketball team

The 2024–25 Southern Lady Jaguars basketball team represented Southern University during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lady Jaguars, led by seventh-year head coach Carlos Funchess, played their home games at the F. G. Clark Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

2024–25 Southern Lady Jaguars basketball
SWAC regular season and tournament champions
NCAA tournament, First Round
Conference	Southwestern Athletic Conference
Record	21–15 (15–3 SWAC)
Head coach	Carlos Funchess (7th season)
Assistant coaches	Jeremy Bonin Patrece Carter TJ Pugh
Home arena	F. G. Clark Center

2024–25 SWAC women's basketball standings

	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Southern †	15	–	3		.833			21	–	15		.583
Texas Southern	14	–	4		.778			17	–	16		.515
Alabama A&M	14	–	4		.778			21	–	11		.656
Jackson State	13	–	5		.722			16	–	15		.516
Grambling State	12	–	6		.667			15	–	15		.500
Alcorn State	10	–	8		.556			14	–	18		.438
Bethune–Cookman	7	–	11		.389			10	–	21		.323
Florida A&M	6	–	12		.333			9	–	21		.300
Mississippi Valley State	6	–	12		.333			8	–	23		.258
Prairie View A&M	6	–	12		.333			10	–	19		.345
Alabama State	4	–	14		.222			6	–	24		.200
Arkansas–Pine Bluff	1	–	17		.056			3	–	25		.107
† 2025 SWAC tournament winner

Previous season

The Lady Jaguars finished the 2023–24 season 15–15, 13–5 in SWAC play, to finish in third place. They were upset by #6 seed Alcorn State in the quarterfinals of the SWAC tournament.

Preseason

On September 19, 2024, the SWAC released their preseason coaches poll. Southern was picked to finish second in the SWAC regular season.

Preseason rankings

SWAC preseason poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Grambling State	276 (10)
2	Southern	232 (2)
3	Alabama A&M	226 (4)
4	Jackson State	211 (4)
5	Florida A&M	178 (3)
6	Prairie View A&M	165 (1)
7	Alcorn State	157
8	Bethune–Cookman	142
9	Texas Southern	117
10	Alabama State	114
11	Arkansas–Pine Bluff	86
12	Mississippi Valley State	46

Source:

Preseason All-SWAC Teams

No Lady Jaguars were named to the first or second Preseason All-SWAC teams.

Roster

2024–25 Southern Lady Jaguars women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Diamond Hunter 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Sr Sam Houston Baton Rouge, Louisiana G 1 Aniya Gourdine 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Sr Temple Baltimore, Maryland G 2 Aleighyah Fontenot 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Sr Ridge Point High School Fresno, Texas G 3 Taniya Lawson 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Jr Texas Southern Capitol Heights, Maryland G 4 DaKiyah Sanders 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) GS Alabama State Birmingham, Alabama G 5 D'Shantae Edwards 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Jr Bethune–Cookman Baltimore, Maryland G/F 8 Myca Trail 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) RS Jr Louisiana–Monroe Lake Charles, Louisiana G 10 Jocelyn Tate 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Fr North Little Rock High School North Little Rock, Arkansas F 11 Imani Morris 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) So Texas Southern Cedar Hill, Texas G 12 Aubri Wilkins 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) Fr Carver High School Columbus, Georgia G 14 Soniyah Reed 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Sr Northshore High School Slidell, Louisiana F 15 Sky Castro 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Sr Saint Peter's Queens, New York C 21 Tionna Lidge 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Sr Andress High School El Paso, Texas G 23 Kiana Wilson 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Jr Florida SouthWestern State Jacksonville, Florida F 24 DeMya Porter 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Fr Bogue Chitto High School Bogue Chitto, Mississippi C 32 Xyllize Harrison 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Sr Garland High School Garland, Texas	Head coach Carlos Funchess (Louisiana–Monroe) Assistant coach(es) Jeremy Bonin Patrece Carter (Louisiana Christian) TJ Pugh (LSU) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: March 18, 2025

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 4, 2024* 5:00 pm, SECN+		at No. 10 Oklahoma	L 44–76	0–1	11 – Gourdine	4 – Tied	4 – Sanders	Lloyd Noble Center (4,886) Norman, OK
November 7, 2024* 6:30 pm, SECN+		at Missouri	L 51–66	0–2	19 – Gourdine	5 – Fontenot	4 – Fontenot	Mizzou Arena (2,727) Columbia, MO
November 10, 2024* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at No. 8 Iowa State	L 56–84	0–3	16 – Fontenot	5 – Tate	4 – Gourdine	Hilton Coliseum (10,097) Ames, IA
November 12, 2024* 7:00 pm, B1G+		at No. 21 Nebraska	L 58–84	0–4	22 – Gourdine	5 – Tied	3 – Sanders	Pinnacle Bank Arena (4,326) Lincoln, NE
November 17, 2024* 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Colorado	L 45–65	0–5	12 – Gourdine	6 – Gourdine	2 – Tied	CU Events Center (2,393) Boulder, CO
November 19, 2024* 7:30 pm, MWN		at Colorado State	L 47–78	0–6	9 – Tied	8 – Gourdine	3 – Gourdine	Moby Arena (1,084) Fort Collins, CO
November 25, 2024* 10:00 am, FloHoops		vs. No. 20 NC State Pink Flamingo Championship semifinals	L 47–77	0–7	11 – Fontenot	6 – Gourdine	4 – Edwards	Baha Mar Convention Center (267) Nassau, Bahamas
November 27, 2024* 10:00 am, FloHoops		vs. Washington Pink Flamingo Championship 3rd place game	L 43–61	0–8	11 – Gourdine	6 – Gourdine	4 – Sanders	Baha Mar Convention Center (327) Nassau, Bahamas
December 5, 2024* 6:00 pm		Southern–New Orleans	W 89–34	1–8	13 – Lidge	14 – Tate	6 – Tied	F. G. Clark Center (1,976) Baton Rouge, LA
December 11, 2024* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at No. 6 Texas	L 39–97	1–9	12 – Porter	5 – Reed	3 – Fontenot	Moody Center (6,460) Austin, TX
December 15, 2024* 3:00 pm		Jarvis Christian	W 83–47	2–9	20 – Lawson	10 – Lawson	8 – Sanders	F. G. Clark Center (1,725) Baton Rouge, LA
December 17, 2024* 7:00 pm, FloHoops		at DePaul	L 64–76	2–10	17 – Fontenot	5 – Porter	5 – Sanders	Wintrust Arena (900) Chicago, IL
December 20, 2024* 12:00 pm, B1G+		at Illinois	L 57–69	2–11	11 – Edwards	6 – Tate	3 – Tate	State Farm Center (3,396) Champaign, IL
SWAC regular season
January 2, 2025 6:00 pm		at Prairie View A&M	W 60–48	3–11 (1–0)	12 – Gourdine	10 – Fontenot	3 – Gourdine	William Nicks Building (127) Prairie View, TX
January 4, 2025 3:00 pm		at Texas Southern	L 51–55	3–12 (1–1)	15 – Lidge	5 – Tied	4 – Gourdine	H&PE Arena (663) Houston, TX
January 9, 2025 6:30 pm		Bethune–Cookman	W 73–56	4–12 (2–1)	21 – Gourdine	8 – Gourdine	7 – Sanders	F. G. Clark Center (1,875) Baton Rouge, LA
January 11, 2025 2:30 pm		Florida A&M	W 77–61	5–12 (3–1)	18 – Gourdine	10 – Gourdine	8 – Gourdine	F. G. Clark Center (2,275) Baton Rouge, LA
January 18, 2025 2:30 pm		Grambling State	W 59–53	6–12 (4–1)	10 – Tied	7 – Lidge	7 – Gourdine	F. G. Clark Center (4,124) Baton Rouge, LA
January 25, 2025 3:00 pm		at Arkansas–Pine Bluff	W 52–36	7–12 (5–1)	16 – Reed	8 – Lidge	3 – Sanders	H.O. Clemmons Arena (843) Pine Bluff, AR
January 27, 2025 5:30 pm		at Mississippi Valley State	W 71–51	8–12 (6–1)	15 – Tied	8 – Lidge	4 – Sanders	Harrison HPER Complex (2,109) Itta Bena, MS
January 30, 2025 6:30 pm		Jackson State	W 64–47	9–12 (7–1)	19 – Fontenot	7 – Gourdine	5 – Gourdine	F. G. Clark Center (2,687) Baton Rouge, LA
February 1, 2025 2:30 pm		Alcorn State	L 55–59 OT	9–13 (7–2)	13 – Gourdine	17 – Lidge	5 – Sanders	F. G. Clark Center (2,189) Baton Rouge, LA
February 6, 2025 6:00 pm		at Alabama State	W 48–33	10–13 (8–2)	12 – Gourdine	8 – Tate	7 – Sanders	Dunn–Oliver Acadome (421) Montgomery, AL
February 8, 2025 2:00 pm		at Alabama A&M	W 50–44	11–13 (9–2)	20 – Gourdine	7 – Gourdine	2 – Tied	AAMU Events Center (2,135) Huntsville, AL
February 13, 2025 6:30 pm		Texas Southern	W 63–53	12–13 (10–2)	14 – Gourdine	10 – Lidge	6 – Sanders	F. G. Clark Center (3,678) Baton Rouge, LA
February 15, 2025 2:30 pm		Prairie View A&M	W 86–42	13–13 (11–2)	19 – Reed	8 – Reed	7 – Gourdine	F. G. Clark Center (3,189) Baton Rouge, LA
February 22, 2025 2:00 pm		at Grambling State	W 70–47	14–13 (12–2)	15 – Sanders	6 – Castro	6 – Gourdine	Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center (1,506) Grambling, LA
February 27, 2025 5:30 pm		at Florida A&M	W 65–63	15–13 (13–2)	22 – Gourdine	4 – Lidge	1 – Sanders	Al Lawson Center  Tallahassee, FL
March 1, 2025 2:00 pm		at Bethune–Cookman	W 62–54	16–13 (14–2)	12 – Tied	8 – Tate	4 – Fontenot	Moore Gymnasium (113) Daytona Beach, FL
March 6, 2025 5:30 pm		Alabama State	W 61–38	17–13 (15–2)	19 – Reed	7 – Gourdine	6 – Sanders	F. G. Clark Center (3,986) Baton Rouge, LA
March 8, 2025 2:30 pm		Alabama A&M	L 35–48	17–14 (15–3)	9 – Lidge	8 – Gourdine	6 – Gourdine	F. G. Clark Center (3,978) Baton Rouge, LA
SWAC tournament
March 12, 2025 4:30 pm, ESPN+	(1)	vs. (9) Mississippi Valley State Quarterfinals	W 63–43	18–14	13 – Tied	10 – Lidge	4 – Tied	Gateway Center Arena (842) College Park, GA
March 14, 2025 4:30 pm, ESPN+	(1)	vs. (4) Jackson State Semifinals	W 51–47	19–14	11 – Gourdine	7 – Reed	5 – Fontenot	Gateway Center Arena (1,872) College Park, GA
March 15, 2025 4:30 pm, ESPN+	(1)	vs. (6) Alcorn State Championship	W 64–44	20–14	11 – Tied	10 – Lidge	4 – Sanders	Gateway Center Arena (1,562) College Park, GA
NCAA tournament
March 19, 2025 8:00 pm, ESPNU	(16 S1)	vs. (16 S1) UC San Diego First Four	W 68–56	21–14	17 – Gourdine	7 – Gourdine	4 – Sanders	Pauley Pavilion (603) Los Angeles, CA
March 21, 2025 9:00 pm, ESPN	(16 S1)	at (1 S1) No. 1 UCLA First round	L 46–84	21–15	10 – Gourdine	8 – Tate	2 – Fontenot	Pauley Pavilion (5,703) Los Angeles, CA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central.

Sources: