CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Delta State held the Lee University to their second lowest scoring output on the season, but did not have enough in the tank late as the Lady Flames dispatched the Lady Statesmen 55-46 at Paul Dana Walker Arena. 

Inside the Matchup:

    Score:  Lady Statesmen 46 | Lady Flames 55
    Records: DSU (3-5, 0-3 GSC) | Lee (8-1, 3-0 GSC)
    Series: Lee leads the all-time series 4-3
    Location: Paul Dana Walker Arena | Cleveland, Tenn.
 
How It Happened:

• The Lady Statesmen scored the first bucket of the game 2:31 into the contest, as sophomore Alondrea Rush hit a three-point jumper to put Delta State out in front early. 
• Delta State would get buckets from senior Anissa Jackson and Ieysha Mays as they opened up a 7-0 lead at the 5:06 mark of the first quarter. 
• The Lady Flames snapped a 5:24 scoreless drought to open the ballgame when sophomore Anna Woodford hit a spinning layup to put Lee on the board. 
• The Lady Statesmen lead from wire-to-wire in the opening stanza, but Lee took its first lead on a Woodford three-pointer.
• Woodford's bucket gave Lee their first lead of the afternoon and sparked an 8-0 run to open the second quarter as Lee lead 17-10 with 6:58 left to go before the half. 
• A 9-4 Lady Flames run pushed Lee to a 26-16 halftime advantage. Woodford had eight first half points, and freshman Abby Bertram had nine for Lee at the break.
• Senior Aspriona Gilbert led DSU at the half, as she totaled five points and tallied four rebounds, one block and one steal. 
• Rush had three points, one rebound and one assist at the intermission, and Jackson registered two points, three rebounds and one steal. 
• DSU used a Jackson jumper and a Rush three-pointer to start the third quarter of action on a 5-2 run to cut the Lady Flames lead down to seven points. 
• Back-to-back scores by Jackson and Rush with 3:38 to go in the third stanza pulled the Lady Statesmen within two possessions, 30-26. 
• Lee closed out the third quarter with a 5-0 run over the final 3:14 to lead 35-26 as both sides headed to the fourth and final quarter. 
• Trailing 35-26 with 8:45 to play, a steal and layup from junior Carly Keller sparked a furious 9-2 run that pulled the Lady Statesmen within two points, 37-35, with 6:17 left in the game. 
• The Lady Flames, however, responded, using a 7-0 run in a minute of game action to take a 44-35 lead, and closed out the Lady Statesmen 55-46 for their eighth win of the season. 
• Rush led the way for the Lady Statesmen, scoring 13 points in the loss. Rush also added a season-high five rebounds. 
• Gilbert posted 11 points, six rebounds, one block and one steal for Delta State. Senior Kaelin Kneeland tallied 8 points and 4 rebounds, and Jackson added six points and rebounds on the afternoon. 
• Freshman Tori Mallory tied her season-high with 4 points and juniors Ieysha Mays and Carly Keller rounded out the scoring with two points each. 
• Betram led the way for the Lady Flames with 14 points and nine rebounds, and Woodford added 11 points. Junior Erin Walsh also scored 11 points while playing all 40 minutes of the game. 
• DSU finished 17-of-58 (29.3 percent) from the floor, including 10-of-14 (71.4 percent) from the free throw line. The Lady Statesmen shot 2-of-15 from three-point land (13.3 percent).
• The Lady Flames shot 19-of-40 (47.5 percent) for the game and went 12-of-19 from the free throw line in shooting an 63.2% clip. Lee also shot 5-of-14 (35.7 percent) from behind the three-point line. 

 
Notables:            

• Lee outscored the Lady Statesmen 22-18 in the paint, and edged the Lady Statesmen on the glass 33-29. Lee came into the game first in NCAA Division II with a rebounding margin of +14.3. 
• Delta State outscored the Lady Flames 18-13 in points off of turnovers, second chance points (8-7) and fast break points (4-0). The Lady Flames bench outscored the Lady Statesmen bench 21-8. 

Who's Next:

• Delta State continues Gulf South Conference play with a New Year's Eve contest against Union University at Walter Sillers Coliseum. The game will tip on Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. The Lady Statesmen will then travel to Memphis, Tenn. to take on Christian Brothers University on Jan. 2 at 5 p.m.