CLEVELAND, Miss. – Nia Johnson's 18 points and Zyaire Ewing's 13 points lift the Delta State University women's basketball team to a 58-44 victory over Auburn University-Montgomery on Saturday, Feb. 9 at Walter Sillers Coliseum. The Lady Statesmen (15-8, 10-6 GSC) outscored the Warhawks (3-20, 2-13 GSC) 32-10 in the paint and 19-8 off the bench in a key Gulf South Conference contest.

THE BASICS:
Score:  Delta State 83 | Auburn Montgomery 54
Records: Lady Statesmen 15-8, 10-6 GSC | Warhawks 3-20, 2-13 GSC
Series: Delta State leads 4-2
Location | Time: Sillers Coliseum | 2 PM
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HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Lady Statesmen jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, holding AUM scoreless for the opening 6:12 of the first quarter.
• Victoria Morales finally put the Warhawks on the board with a 12-foot jumper at the 3:48 mark of the first quarter.
• Over the final minutes of the first quarter, the Lady Statesmen extended their lead to five, 12-7. Zyaire Ewing's six points led DSU while Morales paced AUM with four.
• Back-to-back 3-pointers by Jordan Brewster and Makayla Bullard cut the DSU to lead to 14-13 with 8:14 to play in the half.
• Brewster's second 3-pointer off the left elbow gave the Warhawks their first lead of the game, 16-15, with 7:03 on the clock.
• AUM kep the pressure coming, as Evilena Avileeva put the Warhawks up five, 20-15, with 4:07 to go in the second quarter.
• Nia Johnson's personal 5-0 run tied the game at 20-20 for the Lady Statesmen with just under three minutes left in the half.
• Ewing's layup with 58 seconds left in the half sent the Lady Statesmen into the locker room with a 22-20 lead.
• Both teams struggled offensively in the first half, as DSU shot 38.5 percent (10-of-26) from the floor and AUM just 29.6 percent (8-of-27). The Lady Statesmen committed 10 first half turnovers that allowed the Warhawks to keep the score close.
• After the Lady Statesmen had built a 32-24 lead, AUM's Brewster canned two-straight 3-pointers to cut the deficit to two, 32-30, at the 4:10 media timeout of the third quarter.
• Tamia Cunigan's breakaway layup and a short jumper by Ewing allowed the Lady Statesmen to expand their lead back to five, 37-32.
• Ewing's two free throws and a jumper by Aliyah Herrod put the Lady Statesmen ahead 41-33 at the end of the third period.
• Delta State started the fourth period with a 9-0 run, including six from Quantesha Patterson, to extend its lead to 50-33 with 7:23 to play.
• AUM finally got on the board in the third, as Brewster connected on her fifth 3-pointer of the game. The freshman from Lenoir City, Tenn., had the Warhawks with 14, 53-39, with 3:24 to play.
• Both teams closed the final minutes of play with five points apiece to make the final margin of victory 14 points, 58-44.   

TURNING POINT

• Delta State used a 9-0 run to open the fourth quarter and build a double-digit lead it would not relinquish.

 
STAT OF THE GAME

• The Lady Statesmen dominated the paint, outscoring Auburn-Montgomery 32-10.  

 
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Johnson, a junior from Sandersonville, Ga., led the Lady Statesmen with 18 points, her 16^th game in double figures and her 10^th in 11 games.
• Rush, a senior from Horn Lake, connected on one 3-pointer to push her career total to 203, just three away from assistant coach and All-American Chelsey Rhodes (2002-2006/206).
• Frederica Haywood grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and scored nine points for the Lady Statesmen. It was the ninth double digit rebounding effort of the year for the senior from Mound Bayou.
• Brewster led all scorers and AUM with 20 points on 5-of-10 from 3-point range.     

UP NEXT

• The Lady Statesmen will travel to the University of West Florida on Thursday, Feb. 14. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. in Pensacola. Philip Tang will have the call on the Statesmen Sports Network and WMJW 107.5 FM starting 15 minutes prior to tipoff.