The Southwest Tennessee Community College men's and women's basketball teams open their Tennessee Junior and Community College Athletic Association season this weekend with home games against Roane State Community College on Friday night, and Walters State Community College on Saturday afternoon. The women's game on Friday will begin at 6:00 p.m., followed by the men at 8:00 p.m. Saturday's game times will be 2:00 p.m. (women) and 4:00 p.m. (men). Both doubleheaders will be held at the Verties Sails Gymnasium on Southwest's Union Campus.

The Lady Saluqis, under the direction of head coach Andrea Martre, are undefeated at 3-0 and are coming off a 74-65 road win last Thursday at Itawamba Community College in Fulton, Mississippi. They are led in scoring by freshman Candice Holliday, who is averaging 24.7 points per game, including a high-game of 36 points against Northwest Mississippi. Also scoring in double figures for the Lady Saluqis are sophomore guard Larisha Graves (13.7 average), and freshman forward Julia Cole (12.0). Cole also leads the team in rebounding at 9.3 per game, while Graves is the team leader in assists (4.3) and steals (3.7).

Coach Verties Sails' men's team carries a 3-3 record into this weekend's games, with two of the three losses coming to teams ranked in the top 25 nationally. The Saluqis are led by sophomore guard Benjamin Mitchum, who carries a 15.2 points per game average. Also in double figures are sophomore center Toriano Stokes (15.0 average), and freshmen Tyrone Scott (13.5) and Londrick Nolen (10.0). Stokes is also the team leader with 8.7 rebounds per game, while sophomore point guard Brian Kizzie leads in assists with a 6.3 average.

Saturday's games against Walters State will be broadcast on WUMR (FM 91.7). Play-by-play for both doubleheaders may be heard on the Southwest website:

http://athletics.southwest.tn.edu/