Preview: Women's Basketball Faces Dixie State For First Time

The Chicago State women's basketball team travels to St. George, Utah to duel with Dixie State for the first time ever, with tipoff slated for at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. Here's how to watch, follow and attend:

Chicago State Cougars vs. Dixie State Trailblazers Date | Time Saturday, January 29 | 4:00 p.m. CT Location Burns Arena | St. George, Utah Television ESPN+ Live Stats Live Stats Game Notes Chicago State Game Notes

WHAT'S HAPPENING Coming off a loss at Utah Valley, Chicago State women's basketball treks southward to St. George to face Dixie State for the first time this season.

ALL-TIME Chicago State and Dixie State have never met, as Dixie State is in just its second Division I season. Last year, in the COVID-shortened schedule, the Cougars and Trailblazers never met.

LAST TIME OUT 53 hours after winning their first home game in the Tiffany Sardin era, the Cougars fell to Utah Valley, 82-62, on Thursday night. Nafa Haidara amassed a season-high 15 rebounds (nine offensive), also scoring six points. Allysah Boothe led CSU in scoring, pouring in 11 points, while perennial WAC Freshman of the Week Aaliyah Collins scored seven, just her third game with a single-digit scoring output. The Cougars drilled seven three-pointers in the loss, also forcing 19 turnovers.

SIZING UP THE TRAILBLAZERS In its second WAC season, coach JD Gustin's Dixie State squad enters 6-12, with a 2-5 WAC mark. Shanaijah Davison, with 16.6 points per game, leads the Trailblazers' offensive attack, while Emily Isaacson and Breaunna Gillen also average double-digit scoring. Dixie State has lost its last three games, last falling, 75-68, at UTRGV last Saturday.

CLIMBING THE RANKS As just a freshman, former Washington State Player of the Year Aaliyah Collins has taken the conference — and nation — by storm. She leads the Cougars (and ranks fourth in the WAC) with 15.6 points per game, and her 2.9 steals per game lead the league, an average that ranks 10th in NCAA Division I. On Tuesday, Jan. 18, Collins earned the first USBWA Freshman of the Week honor for a WAC student-athlete and the first for a mid-major player since Nov. 2019. Collins has also been named WAC Freshman of the Week four times this season, the most ever for a Chicago State basketball player, men's or women's.

About Chicago State

Chicago State University Athletics is comprised of 15 intercollegiate teams involving over 150 student-athletes that compete in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and volleyball. CSU held memberships in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and NCAA Division II before transitioning to NCAA Division I in 1994. Melvin Bland was the first CSU student-athlete to gain NAIA All-American status in 1974 as a wrestler. Fred Evans became the first black swimmer ever to win a national championship in 1975. CSU's women's basketball team earned a spot in the 2011 Women's Basketball Invitational and CSU's men's basketball team won the 2013 Great West Conference Tournament title and made an appearance in the CollegeInside.com Postseason Tournament (CIT).  The Men's Outdoor Track & Field 4x100-Meter Relay team were 2019 Honorable Mention All-Americans and WAC Champions. Their feat marked the first time the Chicago State's men's track & field program was represented at the national meet. 

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