Box Score CLEVELAND, Miss. – The No. 11 ranked Delta State University Women's Basketball team opened the New Year with 57-46 victory over the University of West Georgia Saturday, Jan. 4 at Walter Sillers Coliseum.  Rhandi Ball led the Lady Statesmen with 14 points while Chelsey Rhodes had 13 and Shanae Govan 12 in the win.  

The Lady Statesmen, who captured their eighth straight victory, improved to 9-1 overall and remained undefeated in Gulf South Conference play at 4-0.  The Wolves slipped to 2-8 and 0-4 in league play.

The Wolves jumped out to a quick start, opening up a six-point lead, 12-6, on Shakilya McLin's layup with 14:46 remaining in the first half. At the time, UWG was shooting 71.6 percent from the field.

UWG and DSU added a point to keep the margin at six, 13-7 with 10:22 to play in the first. 

Over the next 10 minutes, the Lady Statesmen would go on an 18-6 run to take a 25-18 lead into the locker room.  DSU's Govan put the Green-and-White 18-16 with a steal and score with 3:25 on the clock.

After a frigid start, the Lady Statesmen, who outscored UWG 8-0 off turnovers, finished the half shooting 38.5 percent on 10-of-26 shots from the floor.  The Wolves cooled off over the final 10 minutes of the half, hitting on just 7-of-21 shots from the field for 33.3 percent. 

Rhodes led the Lady Statesmen with seven at the break, while Ball and Walton dropped in six each. 

UWG's McLin, Lee and Davis were all tied with five points. 
 
In the second half, the Lady Statesmen kept the pressure on the Wolves, outscoring UWG 33-28 to make the final score 57-46. 

DSU held its largest lead of the game, 20 points with 7:26 to go.  However, UWG closed the contest on a 19-12 run to make the final margin 11.

The Lady Statesmen shot 46.3 percent for the game (25-of-54) after nailing 53.6 percent of their attempts (15-of-28) in the second half.  DSU managed just 2-of-7 from 3-point range and 5-of-10 at the free throw line. 

Defensively, Delta State held the Wolves to 34.9 percent for the game (15-of-43), including just eight buckets in the second half.  UWG was 3-of-9 from 3-point range and 13-of-20 at the line. 

The Lady Statesmen outscored the Wolves 34-24 in the paint and 13-2 off 15 turnovers.  

Ball finished the game with a team-high 14 points and eight rebounds.  Rhodes added 13 points and four assists, while Govan finished with 12 points.

Seandre Lee had a game-high 19 points for the Wolves.

Delta State will face Shorter University on Monday at 5:30 p.m. at Sillers Coliseum.  Philip Tang will have the call on the Statesmen Sports Network starting at 5:15 p.m. with the "DSU Alumni Association Game Day."