CLEVELAND – The Christmas holidays are fast approaching, but hoops madness is still in full swing in the Mississippi Delta as the Statesmen and Lady Statesmen basketball teams will host one more doubleheader Saturday at Sillers Coliseum before the holiday break.

The No. 3 Lady Statesmen (9-0) host former Gulf South Conference foe Montevallo at 4 p.m., and then turn it over to the Statesmen, who host NAIA opponent Loyola (La.) at 6 p.m.

The Lady Statesmen's contest against Montevallo will be the first of back-to-back games against the Falcons (7-1), who now compete in the Peach Belt Conference. Montevallo has won four straight contests, and received a vote in the USA Today/ESPN Women's Basketball Top 25 poll, released by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.

The Falcons are led by 5-foot-6 senior guard Alicia Lewis, who is averaging 14.4 points per contest. She ranks 11th in the PBC in scoring, and third in 3-point shooting, having connected on 48 percent (23-of-48) of her long range shots.

Delta State counters with the frontline play of sophomore Veronica Walker (Indianola, Miss/Gentry HS) and junior Shameka Russell (Waynesboro, Miss./Southeastern Louisiana). Walker, a 6-foot-1 post, leads the Lady Statesmen with 17.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. She ranks third among the GSC's scoring leaders, and is the seventh-leading rebounder in the conference.

Walker has also blocked 28 shots through nine games, which puts her on pace to approach the Delta State record of 83 blocks in a season, which was set by Pam Lockett during the 1989-90 season.

Russell, meanwhile, has given Delta State another threat on the frontline. The 6-foot-2 forward is averaging 12.2 points and 4.9 rebounds per contest.

Delta State's backcourt has also proven difficult for opponents to stop, as All-American point guard Bug Cooper (Indianola, Miss./Gentry HS) has handed out 71 assists against only 27 turnovers, good for a 2.63 assists-to-turnover margin. The 5-foot-5 junior has also averaged 7.0 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

Moe Bell (Madison, Miss./Madison-Ridgeland Academy) has averaged 8.7 points per game, and has drained 43 percent (26-of-61) of her 3-point shots.

The Lady Statesmen will return to action five days after Christmas with a return trip to Montevallo on Dec. 30.

The Statesmen men's basketball team will get their second look at the Loyola Wolfpack, who they defeated in overtime 97-96 in New Orleans on Nov. 19.

Loyola (6-2) descends upon Sillers Coliseum riding a two-game winning streak. The Wolfpack are led by 6-foot-3 forward Ryan Brock, who is the No. 2 leading scorer in the NAIA with an average of 24.7 points per game. The junior transfer from New Orleans was an NAIA All-American for the Wolfpack last year, and has contributed to Loyola ranking 10th in the NAIA in scoring offense at almost 92 points per game.

The Statesmen (5-3) are led by Roderick Ollie (Indianola, Miss./UAB), whose 16.1 points-per-game average leads Delta State. Ollie, a 6-foot-6 forward, is second on the team in rebounding with 5.3 caroms per game.

Joe McCray (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Univ. of Nebraska) is averaging 13.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest. McCray scored 25 points in Delta State's 102-93 loss at No. 16 Valdosta State on Tuesday.

Marqueys Brown (Memphis, Tenn./Crichton College) leads Delta State in rebounding with 7.3 rebounds per contest in addition to scoring 11.9 points per game. Brown scored 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting for the Statesmen at Valdosta.

The Statesmen offense runs through senior point guard Chad Akins (Madison, Miss./Madison Central High School), who scored 11 points and handed out six assists at Valdosta State on Tuesday. Akins is averaging 9.3 points and 8.2 assists per contest.

Following the Loyola game, the Statesmen will travel to Florida to compete in the University of Tampa Classic against Eckerd College and the hosting Spartans on Monday and Tuesday.