LIVINGSTON, Alabama – Senior Chelsey Rhodes scored 33 points to lead Delta State University women's basketball (5-0, 2-0 GSC) to a 58-51 Gulf South Conference win over the University of West Alabama (4-2, 1-1 GSC) on Saturday at Pruitt Hall. The Lady Statesmen have not started a season 5-0 since the 2012-2013 campaign.

Inside the Matchup

• Score:  Delta State 57 | West Alabama 51
• Matchup:  Lady Statesmen (5-0, 2-0 GSC) | Tigers (4-2, 1-1 GSC)
• Series: DSU leads series 49-7
• Date:  Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015 | 2 p.m.
• Location: Pruitt Hall | Livingston, Ala.

How It Happened

• UWA held a 4-2 lead when the Lady Statesmen went on a 9-0 run to take a 11-4 lead on an Aspriona Gilbert three-point play with 2:13 left in the open period. 
• A Chelsey Rhodes jump shot with one second left gave DSU a 15-9 lead going to the second quarter.
• The lead grew to 28-22 on two Gilbert free throws before West Alabama cut the lead down to 19-18 at the 4:13 mark of second.
• Delta State carried a 24-22 lead into halftime after Rhodes basket with 18 seconds remaining.
• West Alabama fought back to take a 28-27 lead in the third quarter before a 7-0 run gave the Lady Statesmen a 34-28 advantage with 6:03 to play.  
• The Lady Statesmen held a 39-36 lead going into the final quarter.
• Rhodes gave the Lady Statesmen a 48-44 edge at the 6:45 mark of the fourth quarter before Latisha McCullum connected on a 3-pointer to draw the Tigers to within one, 48-47, with 4:48 to play.
• A Rhodes layup stretched the lead to 55-49 with 1:31 left followed by two free throws with nine seconds left to seal the 57-51 win for the Green-and-White.
• Rhodes led the way with 33 points followed by Gilbert with eight points and five rebounds. 
• Anissa Jackson led DSU with seven rebounds while Mary Carol Davis chipped in six points.
• Catherine Taylor paced the Tigers with 14 points and eight rebounds.
• Delta State limited UWA to 30 percent shooting overall and 25 percent from 3-point range.
• The Lady Statesmen shot 36 percent from the floor and 23 percent from beyond the arc.

 
Notables              

• The Lady Statesmen limited their fifth straight opponent to less than 36 percent shooting and less than 60 points.
• Delta State is 5-0 for the first time since the 2012-13 season.
• The Lady Statesmen improved to 18-3 in games played against the Tigers in Livingston, Ala., and 2-0 under Head Roden, who coached UWA for seven seasons (1984-87 and 2009-14).
• The win was the sixth straight in the series for the Lady Statesmen.
• Rhodes scored in double figures for the fifth time this season and the 62^nd (92 games) time in her career. It was also her second 30-plus point game this season.
• Rhodes's 33 points moved her past Ramona Von Boeckman (1,287 points) to 25^th on the Lady Statesmen career scoring list with 1,303 points.
• Rhodes made five 3-pointers to give her 159 career threes and she now has 473 career 3-point attempts, ranking third and fourth all-time, respectively.
• The West Alabama game marked Roden's 578^th NCAA game to coach and was his 519^th career win at all levels.

 
Who's Next

• Delta State returns home for a two-game home stand next week against Christian Brothers on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and No. 10 Union on Sunday at 2 p.m.