CLEVELAND, Tenn. – No. 22 Delta State University (11-1, 8-1 GSC) women's basketball claimed a 76-50 win over Lee University (11-3, 7-2 GSC) in a battle for first place in the Gulf South Conference on Saturday at Walker Arena.
Chelsey Rhodes scored 28 points and grabbed eight rebounds and
Becca Ruckes added 13 points and eight rebounds to pace the Lady Statesmen.
Inside the Matchup- Score: No.22/19 Delta State 76 | Lee University 50
- Matchup: Lady Statesmen (11-1, 8-1 GSC) | Flames (10-4, 7-2 GSC)
- Series: DSU leads series 3-2, 2-1 at Walker Arena
- Date: Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016 | 1 p.m. (CST)
- Location: Walker Arena | Cleveland, Tenn.
How It Happened- Lee held an early 6-3 lead before the Lady Statesmen scored the next five points to take an 8-6 edge after two Anissa Jackson free throws with 5:43 left in the first quarter.
- A Carrie Cheeks layup with 38 seconds left gave the Flames a 15-14 lead heading to the second quarter.
- Trailing 19-14, Delta State used a 9-0 run to go build a 23-14 lead after a Chelsey Rhodes 3-pointer at the 2:08 mark of the second quarter.
- Kaelin Kneeland gave the Lady Statesmen a 25-20 lead before Christina Johnson cut the deficit to 25-22 heading into halftime.
- The Lady Statesmen opened up a 37-24 lead in the third quarter following a Beccca Ruckes basket with 7:26 remaining.
- An Alondrea Rush jump shot followed by two Rhodes free throws pushed the advantage to 46-28 with 3:56 to go in third.
- The Lady Statesmen carried a 51-38 lead into the final quarter.
- A Kneeland layup on the end of a 16-3 run gave the Lady Statesmen a 66-41 lead with 5:59 to go in the fourth quarter.
- The Flames never climbed closer than 21 points the rest of the way.
Notables - Delta State scored a season-high 76 points, eclipsing the 73-points scored against Christian Brothers (12.10.15).
- The Green-and-White defense held the Flames 22 points below their season average of 72.8 points per game.
- Lee entered the game shooting 44.7 percent from the floor and 37.2 percent from 3-point range but were limited to 32.8 percent overall and 20 percent from beyond the arc.
- Rhodes' game-high 28 points moved the senior guard into 14th on the Lady Statesmen career scoring list with 1,439 points, passing Shorlone Crockam (1990-93/1,418 points).
- Becca Ruckes added 13 points and had tied Kaelin Kneeland and Rhodes with eight rebounds.
- Rhodes went 3-of-9 from 3-point range to remain third with 175-of-505 3-point field goals made. Rhodes needs12 3-pointers made and five more attempts to move into second place in both categories.
- The Lady Statesmen improved to 2-1 at Lee's Walker Arena.
- Head Coach Craig Roden captured his 526th career win and his 327th GSC win.
- Erin Walsh scored 12 points and Cheeks had 10 points to lead Lee. Johnson collected a game-high 10 rebounds for the Flames.
Who's Next- The Lady Statesmen close out the two-game conference road trip against Shorter University on Monday at 4 p.m. (CST).
