ORANGEBURG, SC – The South Carolina State women's basketball team will welcome the UNLV Running Lady Rebels to town Saturday when the two teams meet in a 2 p.m. contest at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center. The contest will mark the first-ever meeting of the two teams.

Admission is $5 for students and persons 18-years old and under, $7 general admission and $10 reserved.

UNLV's visit will mark the first time SC State has hosted a major university in Orangeburg since the 1993-94 campaign. It's not often that HBCUs can get major schools to play them on their home court, however, the Lady Bulldogs hosted both Clemson of the ACC and the SEC's Georgia that season and both teams left with a loss.

Powered by the backcourt of future SC State Hall of Famers Wanda Wiggins of Bamberg and Orangeburg's Sonya Wilson, the Lady Bulldogs defeated Clemson 74-61 and handed Georgia a 77-72 setback.

First-year Lady Bulldog head coach Audra Smith, whose team is 5-5 on the year, is hoping her team can be just as successful against the visiting Running Lady Rebels, who lost 66-38 at Duke on Thursday, the same day SC State earned am 88-61 win over NAIA member Voorhees.

Smith's familiarity with the Lady Rebel coaching staff, and both team's need for another game, led to UNLV making a stop at SC State.

It appears SC State may be catching a break in playing the Lady Rebels at this time since UNLV will be playing without two of its top players due to injuries. The Duke loss dropped UNLV to 1-6 on the season, however, Smith noted that the Lady Running Rebels are a very talented team, but have played a very challenging schedule thus far.  

"Even without two of its best players, UNLV is still a very formidable team with great talent," she said. "They have a lot of size, their guards are big and can penetrate and their post players are not only tough inside, they can shoot the three."It's a big game for SC State and our program, and we invite the community to come out and support us."