RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Veronica Walker notched her second double-double of the NCAA South Region Tournament and her 14th of the season to lead the No. 8 Delta State Lady Statesmen to a 67-56 semifinal win over Valdosta State on Sunday at Arkansas Tech's Tucker Coliseum.
Walker (Indianola, Miss./Gentry HS) scored 23 on 9-of-13 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds as Delta State (27-3) advanced to the South Region final. The Lady Statesmen, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, will meet either No. 1 Arkansas Tech or No. 4 Tampa.
Former high school teammates Walker and Bug Cooper once again proved to be too much for their opposition. Cooper, a junior point guard, finished the game with 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
Leschelle Matthews and Courtney Mitchell each scored 13 points for Valdosta State (20-9). Valdosta fell to 0-3 against the Lady Statesmen in 2009-2010, and saw its season ended by Delta State in the South Region Tournament for the third consecutive year.
While Walker and Cooper commanded the attention of the Lady Blazers, Delta State also benefitted from stellar performances by players who do not grab the spotlight as often. Freshman Joncyee Sanders (Brandon, Miss./Brandon HS) scored 10 points and pulled in four rebounds in her second collegiate start.
Sanders, who made her first career start Friday in the Delta State's tournament opener, had a perfect day shooting the basketball. She made her only field-goal attempt and was 8-of-8 from the free throw line.
Jimisha Washington (Cleveland, Miss./East Side HS/Coahoma CC) also saw key time in the game. In 15 minutes of action off the bench, Washington scored four points and grabbed four rebounds.
Washington, a walk-on who was one of the last additions to the roster by head coach Sandra Rushing, teamed up with Walker and Shameka Russell (Waynesboro, Miss./Southeastern Louisiana) to frustrate the Valdosta State's bigger posts throughout the game.
Delta State never trailed after the 13:24 mark in the first half when Sanders hit a pair of free throws to make the score 8-7; however, the Lady Statesmen were unable to manage create much distance between themselves and the Lady Blazers until the very late stages of the game.
The two teams battled evenly throughout the first half. Delta State finished the period by outscoring the Lady Blazers 8-2 over the last three minutes before halftime, and took a 35-28 lead into the locker room.
Valdosta wiped out an eight-point deficit early in the second half with a 6-0 run between the 15:08 and 13:12 marks of the period to cut the DSU lead to 39-37. The Lady Blazers, however, would get never get closer than two points from tying the game. Every time VSU closed that gap to two points, the Lady Statesmen had an answer.
Matthews drained a 3-pointer to make the score 44-42 with 11:29 remaining, but DSU responded when Russell was fouled and made two free throws on the Lady Statesmen's next trip down the floor.
VSU closed the gap again with 8:44 left in the game, but a 1-of-2 free throw trip and a layup by Cooper on consecutive trips down the floor put the green-and-white ahead 55-50 at the 7:31 mark.
The Lady Statesmen were finally able to pull away with a 7-0 run between the 6:33 and 2:12 marks of the second half. Delta State held the Lady Blazers to 1-of-10 shooting from the field over the final 6:33 of the game.
Russell and Jessica Collins (Jackson, Miss./Itawamba CC) each scored five points for the Lady Statesmen. Denesha Henderson (Guy, Ark./Guy-Perkins HS) added two points for Delta State.
The Lady Statesmen will compete for the South Region title Tuesday at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on the Statesmen Sports Network, with the “SouthGroup Insurance Locker Room Report” kicking off coverage at 5:30 p.m.
