ROME, Ga. – Nia Johnson's scored five of her career-high 26 points in overtime to lead Delta State women's basketball (9-3, 4-1 GSC) to a 69-59 Gulf South Conference victory over Shorter University (1-11, 0-5) at the Winthrop-King Centre on Saturday.

The Lady Statesmen rallied from a 14-point  deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime before outscoring the Hawks 13-3 in overtime.

Alondrea Rush scored 19 points to move into 34th on the Lady Statesmen all-time scoring list while connecting on 3-of-9 3-point attempts to move into third in career 3-pointers made. 

The game featured the first father-son coaching matchup in GSC history with DSU Head Coach Craig Roden facing off against his son and Shorter Head Coach Tyler Roden. 

Score:  Delta State 69 | Arkansas-Monticello 59 (OT)

Records: Lady Statesmen 9-3, 4-1 | Hawks 1-11, 0-5 GSC

Series: Lady Statesmen lead 13-2

Location | Time:  Winthrop-King Center – Rome, Ga. | 1 pm (CT)     

Get Social: Twitter - @DeltaStateWBB | Facebook – DSUStatesmen | Instagram – DSUAthletics

•    Shorter led 17-11 at the end of the first quarter and held a 31-25 lead at halftime after the teams tied 14-14 in the second quarter. 

•    The Hawks carried a 48-36 lead into the fourth quarter and grabbed a 50-36 lead at the 9:06 mark on a Tatum Ragsdale basket. 

•    The Lady Statesmen outscored Shorter 20-8 in the fourth quarter, rallying from 14 points down to force overtime. 

•    Trailing 56-44, a Johnson basket started a 12-0 run and made two free throws on the tail end of the run to tie the game 56-56 with three seconds remaining in regulation. 

•    Delta State opened overtime with a 7-0 run to ahead 63-56 on a Quantesha Patterson fast-break layup with 1:36 remaining. 

•    Raven Fair's 3-point play with 1:10 left accounted for Shorter's only points in overtime. 

•    The Lady Statesmen outscored Shorter 13-3 in the extra session, going on a 6-0 run to end the game. 

TURNING POINT
 

•    The Lady Statesmen rallied from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime and opened overtime on a 7-0 run. 

STAT OF THE GAME
 

•    Delta State outscored Shorter 13-3 in overtime to take a 69-59 win. 

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
 

•    Craig Roden versus Shorter's Tyler Roden presented the first father-son head coaching matchup in Gulf South Conference history. 

•    Johnson led the Lady Statesmen with a career-high 26 points to help the Lady Statesmen improve to 2-0 in overtime games this season. 

•    Rush added 19 points to move past Lynn Rose (1994-96) into 34th with 1,070 points on the Lady Statesmen career scoring list. The Horn Lake, Miss., native is eight points shy of taking over 33rd on the list, passing Shawnna Wright (1997-2000/1,077 points).

•    The Lady Statesmen improved to 13-2 overall and 5-2 at the Winthrop King Centre (Rome, Ga.) in the series. 

•    The Green-and-White have won nine of their last 10 games and are 4-1 on the road this season.

•    Rush made three, 3-pointers to move into third in career-pointers made, passing Tanya Redmond (186) with 189 career 3-pointers.

•    Quantesha Patterson added 10 points and six rebounds followed by Rush with five boards.

•    Zyaire Ewing pulled down seven rebounds to lead the Lady Statesmen.

•    Barbi Wardwell led the Hawks with 15 points and 13 rebounds followed by Tatum Ragsdale and Jamilla Harrison with 14 points. 

UP NEXT
 

The Lady Statesmen remain on the road to take on the University of West Georgia on Monday at 4:30 pm CT in Carrollton, Ga. Philip Tang will call the action on the Statesmen Sports Network beginning 4:15 pm CT.