CLEVELAND, Miss. – The Delta State University women's basketball team held Lee University to a season-low 36 points, as the Lady Statesmen (12-7, 7-5 GSC) defeated the Flames (16-4, 10-2 GSC) 57-36 on Saturday, Jan. 26 at Walter Sillers Coliseum.
Nia Johnson led the Lady Statesmen with a game-high 16 points.
Lee's previous season low was 47 points in a 49-47 loss to Young Harris College on Dec. 4, 2018.
THE BASICS:
Score: Delta State 57 | Lee 36
Records: Lady Statesmen 12-7, 7-5 GSC | Flames 16-4, 10-2 GSC
Series: Lee leads 6-5
Location | Time: Sillers Coliseum | 2 PM
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HOW IT HAPPENED
- Four points off the bench from Zyaire Ewing and and two points apiece from Nia Johnson and Alyiah Herod put the Lady Statesmen up 8-7 on the Flames at the 2:46 media timeout. Both teams were shooting less than 30 percent.
- Delta State ended the first quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 17-7 lead at the buzzer. The Lady Statesmen held Lee to 21.4 percent (3-of-14) shooting in the opening period.
- DSU kept the pressure on the Flames to start the second period, as Kirstin Brown and Quantesha Patterson extended the lead to 21-7 with a pair of baskets with 8:27 remaining in the half.
- Alondrea Rush nailed a jumper in the lane and a deep 3-pointer with 6:59 to play in the second to expand the Lady Statesmen lead to 19, 26-7.
- Abby Bertram's baseline jumper ended a 9:08 scoring drought for the Flames and cut the DSU lead to 26-9 with 5:52 left in the half.
- The Lady Statesmen outscored the Flames 12-7 over the final 4:48 of the period to end the half with a 38-16 lead. DSU held Lee to 22.2 percent (6-of-27) from the field while hitting on 43.8 percent (14-of-33).
- Johnson led DSU with nine points at the break followed by Rush (8), Patterson (6) and Brown (6). Bertram paced Lee with seven points.
- The third quarter began with both teams playing lockdown defense. A free throw by Lee's Haley Schubert and a layup from DSU's Patterson were the only points scored over the first 5:17 of the third quarter.
- Bertram's jumper with 3:47 to play in the third was the first field goal of the second half for the Flames.
- Anna Woodford's corner 3-pointer put the deficit at 18, 42-24, with 2:15 remaining in the third.
- The Lady Statesmen went 4-of-6 at the free throw line at the end of the period to take a 46-24 lead into the fourth quarter.
- Ernesha Chatman's 17-foot jumper extended DSU's lead to 26, 50-24, with 8:04 left to play.
- Lee cut it to 22, 51-29, on a short jumper by Shubert with 4:53 on the clock.
- Johnson's 23-footer off the left elbow with 1:32 left in the game gave the Lady Statesmen a 55-32 advantage.
- DSU closed out the final minutes of the contest for the 57-37 victory.
- The Lady Statesmen finished the game shooting 37 percent (20-of-54) from the field, 66.7 percent (4-of-6) from 3-point range and 61.9 percent (13-of-21) from the line.
- Lee shot a season low 23.6 percent (13-of-55) from the floor and just 11.5 percent (3-of-26) from 3-point range.
TURNING POINT
- The Lady Statesmen built a 22-point halftime lead thanks to holding the Flames off the scoreboard for 9:08 between the first and second quarters.
STAT OF THE GAME
- Delta State's tenacious defense held the Flames to 37 points, 34.2 below their seasonal average of 71.2 points per game.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The Flames' 16 points at halftime were the fewest they had scored in a half all year. Lee came into Saturday's game ranked third in scoring offense (71.2 ppg).
- Rush, a senior from Horn Lake, scored nine points to inch closer to Amber Gean (2001-2005/1,195) on the career scoring chart. Rush is currently 29th with 1,135 points. She was 2-of-2 from 3-point range to push her career 3-pointers made to 201. Rush is just five away from assistant coach Chelsey Rhodes (2002-2006/206).
- Kirstin Brown collected a career-high 12 rebounds and finished the game with six points.
- Frederica Haywood, Patterson, Johnson and Ewing all finished with six rebounds apiece.
- Delta State out-rebounded Lee 45-37 and outscored the Flames 28-10 in the paint.
UP NEXT
- The Lady Statesmen face a two-game road swing next week, as Delta State travels to Auburn-Montgomery on Thursday, Jan. 31. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. Following the AUM matchup, DSU will drive up to Huntsville, Ala., for a Saturday shootout the Chargers of Alabama-Huntsville. Game time is set for 2 p.m. Philip Tang will have the call for both games on the Statesmen Sports Network (WMJW 107.5 FM) starting 15 minutes before tipoff.
