South Carolina State will open play Tuesday in the 2019 MEAC Tournament being contested at The Scope in Norfolk, Va.
 
The 2018-2019 Season has been an up-and-down campaign for first-year head coach Audra Smith, who took over the SC State women's program this year after five seasons as head coach at Clemson.
 
The Lady Bulldogs' longest winning streak has been three games, which occurred just once, early in the campaign. In MEAC contests, SC State had a better road record (5-3) than it did at home (3-5), which is unusual in the league.
 
Smith's team, which counts eight (8) seniors on its roster, enters this year's tourney as the Number 7 Seed after finishing the campaign at an even .500 overall (15-15) and in the MEAC (8-8). The Lady Bulldogs lost their regular-season finale 65-64 last Thursday to visiting Savannah State. The two teams spilt their regular-season contests. SC State claimed a 71-60 win at Savannah State Jan. 26 behind 18 points and nine rebounds from forward Taylor Brown, a second-team All-MEAC selection.
 
The two teams will be meeting for a third time on Tuesday in the Opening Round of the Tournament in a 3:30 p.m. matchup. The winner moves on to Wednesday's Quarterfinals against the Number 2 Seed, Maryland Eastern Shore at 2 p.m.
 
South Carolina State, under Smith, had its best finish (15-15, 8-8 MEAC) since the 2014-2015 season when the Lady Bulldogs were 16-12 and 9-7 in the MEAC under departed head coach Doug Robertson. The Lady Bulldogs, once Kingpins of the MEAC, will be looking for their first tournament title in title in 26 years. SC State's last tourney title came in 1993 when the Lady Bulldogs defeated Coppin State 65-54 in the finals for back-to-back championships. SC State was last in the finals in 20-10 when it lost 57-46 to Hampton. Last season, SC State captured its opening round game 76-67 over North Carolina Central before losing 54-38 in the quarterfinals to eventual champion North Carolina A&T.