SOUTHAVEN—It was physical; it was emotional; it was the perfect example of fierce rivals going head-to-head. The 2011 Gulf South Conference Championship came down to two teams that split in the regular season, each beating one another by ten points at their respectable homes. But for the Lady Statesmen, the outcome wasn't the desired one and Arkansas Tech went home with the Conference title as they defeated Delta State 73-62 Sunday, March 6.

“Arkansas Tech is a tremendous basketball team,” said head coach Sandra Rushing. “But this is not where we wanted to be; we do not get the trophy.”

“We beat ourselves in the second half with our turnovers,” said Rushing.

Turnovers had been a problem for Delta State from the get-go. In the first period alone, the Lady Statesmen mishandled the ball 15 times. They weren't the only one with this problem; ATU turned it over 12 times in the first. However, Delta State could not fix the issue in the second half, and they added 10 more to the debilitating statistic.

Most importantly, the Golden suns took advantage of the 25 DSU turnovers. They scored 31 points total from the ball handling mistakes.

In the first half, the Golden Suns had made a run for it, but the Lady Statesmen were close behind. With 6:43 left to play in the first, ATU had an eight-point lead. Delta State cut it to five and they went into the half down 28-23.

“This was a physical game,” said Rushing. “When you are scared of contact, though, you're not going to take the ball inside.”

In the second half, perimeter shooting became a factor for the Lady Statesmen as Moe Bell caught fire from the outside.

“Moe came alive for us,” said Rushing. “I'm very pleased with the effort she and the other girls showed.”

Veronica Walker, in spite of having an off night from the field, achieved her eighteenth double-double of the season. She scored a team-high 17 points and pulled in 11 rebounds. She also had three steals, one block and one assists.

Bug Cooper dished out 11 of the 19 DSU assists.

In the end, the Lady Statesmen were 42.1 percent from the field (24-57), 46.7 percent from the behind the arch (7-15) and 63.6 percent from the free throw line (7-11).

Comparably, the Golden Suns were 40.4 percent from the field (19-47), 25 percent from behind the arch (3-12) and 88.9 percent from the free throw line (32-36).

Delta State out-rebounded Arkansas Tech 34-30 and outscored them from the bench 16-4.

“The season is not over yet,” said Rushing. “ We will head to Russellville next week for the Regionals and we will be ready to play.”