CLEVELAND, Miss. - The Delta State University women's basketball team scored a season-high 27 points in the third quarter and pulled away late from Mississippi College for a 63-45 Gulf South Conference victory on Monday at Walter Sillers Coliseum. 
 
Inside the Matchup:
    Score: Delta State 63 | Mississippi College 45
    Records: Lady Statesmen (9-12, 6-10 GSC) | Lady Choctaws (10-10, 7-9 GSC)
    Series: DSU leads series 53-9
    Location: Walter Sillers Coliseum | Cleveland, Miss.

How It Happened:

• Delta State's defense came out of the gates strong, shutting out Mississippi College on their first five field goal attempts over the first 4:02 of the game. 
• The first basket for the Lady Choctaws came on an Olivia Mabry three-pointer with 5:58 left in the first quarter. 
• After Mabry's triple, the Choctaw offense converted six straight points as the visitors jumped out to a 9-2 lead.
• An Aspriona Gilbert jumper with 2:38 left in the first stopped a scoring drought of over six minutes for the Lady Statesmen offense.
• Gilbert then rattled off five straight points for the DSU offense to pull the Lady Statesmen back within one possession, 11-10.
• Gilbert's seven points in the opening stanza had the Green-and-White trailing 13-10 as both sides moved to the second quarter. 
• The Lady Statesmen opened the second quarter on a 6-2 run, capped by a Kaelin Kneeland layup, to put DSU out front 16-15 with 6:38 to play before the halftime intermission. 
• The Lady Choctaws used a nifty drive and layup by Ashley Minor that kick-started a 6-0 run of their own to jump back out to the lead, 21-16, and Mississippi College held a 24-21 advantage at the half. 
• Delta State shot 7-of-28 (25 percent) from the floor in the first half, including just 1-of-6 (16 percent) from three point range and 6-of-9 from the free throw line (67 percent). DSU was led by Gilbert's seven points, while Anissa Jackson added three points and seven rebounds.
• Mississippi College was 9-of-28 shooting (32 percent) while going 1-for-3 from three-point territory and knocking down 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Kelley Allen, Ashley Minor and Shuntavia Rodgers each added four points for the Choctaws in the first half. 
• The Lady Statesmen stormed out of the locker room, using a 13-2 run to snag a 34-26 lead with 5:34 to play in the third quarter. 
• Alondrea Rush scored eight third quarter points, including a pair of three-pointers, as the Lady Statesmen outscored the Lady Choctaws 27-8 to take a 48-32 lead heading to the fourth quarter. 
• Delta State shot 62.5% from the floor in the third quarter, making 10 of their 16 shot attempts, getting out to its largest lead of the night. 
• Mississippi College used some pressure defense of their own to start the fourth quarter, using a 9-4 run to cut the DSU lead down to 11 points.
• The Lady Statesmen responded, however, and used five points from Rush and a Gilbert layup with 2:16 left in the game to ice things away. 
• Delta State shot 23-for-57 for the game (40 percent), including going 4-of-13 (31 percent) from three-point range. DSU went 13-of-19 (68 percent) at the free throw line for the game. Mississippi College was 18-of-55 (33 percent) from the field and 2-of-7 (29 percent) from three while hitting 7 of their 10 attempts at the free throw line. 
• Rush led the way for Delta State with 18 points, four rebounds and six assists while knocking down four three-pointers. Gilbert scored 16 points and pulled down five rebounds, and Anissa Jackson posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds while dishing out four assists. Ieysha Mays (eight points), Kaelin Kneeland (eight points) and Tori Mallory (three points) rounded out the DSU scorers. 
• MC was led by 13 points and seven rebounds from Ashley Minor, and got six points each from Kelley Allen and Shuntavia Rodgers. 

Notables:          

• The Lady Statesmen out-rebounded the Mississippi College 25-17 in the first half. 
• The Lady Choctaws led for 15 minutes and 15 seconds in the first half, whereas Delta State led for just 4:31.  
• Delta State's 27 points in the third quarter was their highest scoring output in any quarter this year, and scored 42 points total in the second half. 
• DSU's defensive effort marked the fourth time this year the Lady Statesmen have held an opponent under 50 points. 
• Senior Anissa Jackson notched her first double-double of the season.  
• Head coach Craig Roden snagged his 50th win at the helm of Delta State. 

   
Who's Next:

• The Lady Statesmen continue their homestand with a game against Lee on Thursday, Feb. 9 at 5:30 p.m. and a game against Shorter on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 2 p.m.