GAME NOTES: Lady Statesmen Basketball vs. West Florida/Valdosta State (2.28-3.2.13)
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CLEVELAND, Miss. - The Lady Statesmen (16-8, 11-5 GSC) of Delta State University will be looking to lockup the Gulf South Conference regular season title with a pair of home games at Walter Sillers Coliseum.  DSU welcomes in the Argonauts (6-18, 3-13 GSC) of the University of West Florida on Thursday, Feb. 28 at 5:30 p.m. and the Lady Blazers (15-9, 8-8 GSC) of Valdosta State University on Saturday, March 1 at 2 p.m. for Senior Day.  Delta State stands just two games away from capturing their second consecutive regular season title and stands one game ahead of the University of North Alabama and two in front of the University of West Georgia.

Delta State enters this week ranked second in the GSC in scoring at 65.0 points per game and field goal percentage with a 40.9 average.  The Lady Statesmen have topped 90 points twice, including wins over Selma (99-37) and Stillman (90-54). 

The Lady Statesmen have been a defense-first program for the last 10 years and coach Midlick has kept the tradition rolling this season, as DSU is allowing opponents just 55.2 points and 36.2 percent shooting per game this season.  Opponents are managing just 28.6 percent from 3-point range as well.

Freshman guard Chelsey Rhodes is making an immediate impact on the Lady Statesmen this season.  The Monticello, Ark., native is averaging 11.4 points per game, which is good for 13th in the GSC.  She also is third in the GSC in 3-point FG% at 40.4 percent.

Sophomore center Seneca Walton leads the Lady Statesmen in scoring (13.8) and rebounds (8.0) per game and is quickly approaching the 500-point plateau with 460.  The Clarksdale, Miss., native is currently eighth in the GSC in scoring and fourth in rebounding.

Sophomore forward Rhandi Ball has become a major scoring threat for DSU this season.  The Ponotoc, Miss., native, who was named the GSC Freshman of the Year last year, is averaging a career-high 10.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game this season.  In GSC play, Ball is averaging 11.4 points and 8.3 boards per contest.

Junior guard Chadisty Hickman has emerged as a scoring threat for the Lady Statesmen.  The Preston, Miss., native led DSU with a career-high 15 points in a 60-49 win at the University of West Georgia last Saturday.  She is currently averaging 5.0 points per game.     

ON THE AIR
This week's games with West Florida and Valdosta State will be broadcast on the Statesmen Sports Network. Air time is 15 minutes prior to tipoff with the DSU Alumni Association Tipoff Report.  Matt Jones will have the call.  All home games are also video streamed on www.GoStatesmen.com through America One.  

UP NEXT
Delta State will begin postseason play on March 7-10 at the 2013 Raymond James Gulf South Conference Women's Basketball Tournament in Birmingham, Ala., on the campus of Samford University.  The GSC's annual classic will be played inside the Pete Hanna Center, a state-of-the-art 5,000 seat basketball and multi-purpose arena.  All games at the GSC Tournament will be broadcast on the Lady Statesmen Sports Network with Matt Jones, J.T. Webb and Herb Brooks on the call.

TWO GAMES AWAY FROM A LEAGUE REGULAR SEASON TITLE
The Lady Statesmen stand just two games away from capturing their second consecutive Gulf South Conference regular season title.  DSU enters the final week of the regular season with an 11-5 mark in league play, one game ahead of North Alabama and two in front of West Georgia.  

LADY STATESMEN LOOKING FOR REVENGE VERSUS UWF
Delta State will be looking for a measure of revenge versus West Florida on Thursday, Feb. 28 at 5:30 p.m. in Walter Sillers Coliseum.  The Lady Statesmen fell 66-51 to the Argonauts at the UWF Athletic Complex (1.24), one of only three road losses for DSU in their last 11. 

Quite possibly a preview of a first round matchup at the GSC Tournament, the game will also mark the 14th meeting all-time between the two programs.  DSU holds a 10-3 edge in the series.

DELTA STATE-VALDOSTA STATE CLOSEOUT REGULAR SEASON
Two of the GSC's top women's basketball programs over the last decade will closeout the regular season Saturday, March 2, as the Lady Statesmen welcome Valdosta State to Walter Sillers Coliseum.  The game has huge conference and NCAA implications riding on it. 

The Lady Statesmen edged the Lady Blazers 52-48 at the HPER Complex on Jan. 26 behind the play of Rhandi Ball and Seneca Walton.  This time around, the Lady Blazers are playing some of their best basketball to date. 

The Lady Statesmen and Lady Blazers have met on 36 previous occasions with DSU owning a 31-5 edge in the series standings. 

The Lady Statesmen have not lost to the Lady Blazers at home in regular season play, but do have two losses in postseason play.  DSU's last loss to Valdosta State at Sillers Coliseum was on March 7, 1983 in the semifinals of the Gulf South Conference Tournament.  VSU edged DSU 85-83 in a thriller.

HICKMAN LEADS LADY STATESMEN TO BIG WIN AT UWG
Junior shooting guard Chadisty Hickman turned in one of her best performances to date for the Lady Statesmen, as the Preston, Miss., native turned in 15 points and grabbed six rebounds in a crucial 60-49 win at The Coliseum over the University of West Georgia. 

The East Mississippi CC transfer is averaging 5.0 points and 2.2 rebounds per game this season while shooting 42.1 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from 3-point range.

DEFENSE DRIVES CHAMPIONSHIPS
DSU has historically been a dominant defensive basketball team and coach David Midlick has carried on the tradition laid before him by Margaret Wade, Lloyd Clark and Sandra Rushing. 

Coach Midlick and the Lady Statesmen are once again setting the standard for defense in the Gulf South Conference, allowing the league's second fewest points per game at 55.2 per game.  DSU ranks 22nd in the nation in scoring defense and 36th in field goal percentage defense.     

SCORING IN BUNCHES
The Lady Statesmen enter the final week of the regular season ranked second in the GSC in scoring at 65.0 points per game, while leading the league in scoring margin +9.8 points per game.            

THERE'S ONLY ONE...
In the modern era of Lady Statesmen Basketball, Delta State has suffered just one losing season since 1975-76 and that was in 1979-80 under former head coach Frances Garmon.  DSU is the only school in NCAA history to top 1,000 wins, as the Lady Statesmen boast a 1,040-254-3 record.  The Lady Statesmen also hold the GSC record for all-time wins with a 675-139 mark.

WALTON POWERING LADY STATESMEN SUCCESS; NEARING 500-POINT MARK
Sophomore center Seneca Walton has been a major catalyst for the success of the Lady Statesmen this season.  The Clarksdale, Miss., native is averaging 13.5 points, currently eighth in the GSC, and 8.0 rebounds per game, which ranks fourth in the league. 

Walton's ability to score around the basket is an almost unstoppable force in the GSC, where she is currently third in field goal percentage at 50.8 percent on 130-of-256 attempts.  She is also second in the GSC in blocked shots per game at 1.83 with 44 in 24 games.

Walton is also bearing down on the 500-point mark for her career.  In 52 career games, Walton has scored 460 points for an 8.8 points per game average. 

THREE-HEADED MONSTER ON THE DISH
DSU ranks second in the GSC in scoring per game (65.0) thanks in large part to unselfish play.  While DSU leads the league in assists with 313 or 13.1 per game, the Lady Statesmen enter the last week of the regular season with three players ranked in the top 10 in assists per game.

Rhandi Ball leads the team with 2.83 assists per game and ranks seventh in the GSC followed by Shanae Govan (8th/2.71) and Brittany Roberts (10th/2.46).

BALL APPROACHING 500-POINT MARK
Sophomore small forward Rhandi Ball, the 2011-2012 GSC Freshman of the Year, is approaching the 500 career point plateau as the Lady Statesmen the last two games of the regular season. 

The Ponotoc, Miss., native has scored 427 points to date, averaging 8.1 points per game.  This season, Ball ranks third on the team with a 10.7 points per game average and is second on the team in rebounding at 7.5 boards per game.  She has doubled her offensive output from a year ago where she averaged 5.9 points per game.  

RHODES PROVING FRESHMAN IS JUST A TAG
Chelsey Rhodes is proving to the GSC that the term freshman is just a tag.  The Monticello, Ark., native is currently averaging 11.4 points per game while shooting 43.6 percent from the field on 89-of-204 attempts. 

Rhodes is currently third in the GSC in free throw percentage (76.4) and 3-point field goal percentage (40.4).  She seventh in field goal percentage (43.6) and her 40 made 3-pointers are fifth in the league.

OLYMPIC & NBA LINKS
Former Lady Statesmen great Lusia Harris-Stewart holds the distinction of scoring the first basket in Olympic Women's Basketball history.  Harris was also drafted by the NBA's New Orleans Jazz following the 1977-78 season, becoming the first female drafted into the National Basketball Association.