Following a rocky two first seasons, Texas Southern women’s basketball coach Vernette Skeete has turned the program around and the Tigers are off to their best SWAC start since 2017. Credit: Ken Tatum

Texas Southern senior forward Treasure Thompson is about as outspoken as they come.

And that extends to discussing her head coach Vernette Skeete, who loves on her team every chance she gets. But she can also be brutally honest and blunt when her players need it. That’s cool with Thompson.

“I love the way she coaches us, first of all,” Thompson said. “She loves us so much that she is always on us.

“And when it comes to these game moments, it’s way easier. I won’t say it’s easy to beat these teams, but I will say she makes it way more easier. I feel like the more that we push, the more that she pushes us, we are just going to get even better.”

Skeete, who is in her third season at the helm of the Lady Tigers, has her team playing the best ball TSU has played since her arrival. Boasting an almost remade roster this season, the Tigers have gone from near the bottom of the SWAC to the unchallenged top team in the conference during this early part of the season.

Sophomore guard Aaliyah Henderson (3), who transferred into TSU from SMU, has been one of the key additions to the Tigers this season. Credit: Ken Tatum

TSU recently improved to 4-0 in SWAC play after dominating SWAC power Jackson State 69-54 at home, and the game really wasn’t that close. TSU ended Jackson State’s 35-game SWAC regular-season winning streak during a recent Thursday night game. The Tigers did so in a rather unusually festive HP&E Arena atmosphere, with the stands packed, the cheerleaders showing their spirit, and the famous TSU Ocean of Soul band rocking the house.

You would have thought the Tigers’ men were coming up next but in the new SWAC format, Thursday nights are all about the women.

It seemed like a huge statement night for TSU women’s basketball but Skeete wasn’t willing to go there.

“We don’t really think, it’s still the beginning of the SWAC. It’s one game at a time. That’s our mentality,” said Skeete, who has the Tigers off to their best SWAC start since 2017 after they beat Alcorn State 70-48 to go 5-0. “We can’t get too hyped up and then lose the next four in a row because the SWAC is really that good and competitive right now.

“We’re just trying to focus and lock on the game plan every single night and go one game at a time.”

But there is no denying that Skeete has improved things immensely compared to here previous two years. She has a talented roster of transfer portal players who’ve all helped to transform the Tigers into an offensive juggernaut.

Courtlyn Lourdermill (22) has been a key addition for the Tigers this season on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. Credit: Ken Tatum

Led by senior guard Courtlyn Loudermill, who is a North Texas transfer, Ohio University transfer Aylasia Fantroy and Thompson, who made stops at LSU and Eastern Michigan before arriving at TSU this season, the Lady Tigers can fill it up. They are the second-best team in the SWAC in scoring with 66.7 points per game.

Loudermill (12.7 points per game) and Fantroy (11.5) rank in the Top 10 in conference in scoring.

But Skeete is more impressed with the happiness she sees in each one of her players. The statistics are secondary.

“We get so caught in the NIL and all that stuff and we forget that these kids have not had great experiences when they are transferring in, so to see these kids playing with joy and being excited about the game  … It’s a little more important to me every day,” Skeete said.  “I’m happy when they are happy, I’m happy when they are seeing their goals. I feel like a proud momma. `That’s why I’m on you. That’s why you are running these laps so that you can experience these moments.”

While Skeete doesn’t want to talk about statement wins over the conference power, she insists that she doesn’t see a ceiling on this team that seems to have everything. Skeete brought in a silky smooth guard in transfer Aaliyah Henderson and a banger inside with SUNY transfer Deivejon Harris. She can’t forget returning post Jaida Belton, who is a preseason second-team All-SWAC player after leading the conference last season in blocked shots. 

The talent has improved so much that Daeja Holmes and Belton – Skeete’s top returning starters from last season – are now coming off the bench. 

The team’s stated goal is to win the SWAC regular season and then the conference tournament to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The only other time the Tigers managed to do that in program history was 2017.

“It’s the thing that gives me the butterflies. They could be so good,” Skeete said. “It’s just a matter of sometimes you have so much in the container, and you are in a rush to fill the container up. You need the proper space and time for the recipe to kind of grow. They are really, really good and they haven’t reached their potential.

“If we can just stay the course of growing.”

I've been with The Defender since August 2019. I'm a long-time sportswriter who has covered everything from college sports to the Texans and Rockets during my 16 years of living in the Houston market....