No. 9 Lady Senators stay unbeaten in TCCAA

DYERSBURG, Tenn. — Dulcy Fankam-Mendjiadeu had a monster weekend for the ninth-ranked Walters State Lady Senators, culminating with a 30-20 game for the sophomore on Saturday in a 70-60 victory over Dyersburg State at Dyer County High School.

Mendjiadeu tossed in 31 points and hauled down 20 rebounds, as the Lady Senators remained unbeaten in Tennessee Community College Athletic Association play. For the two-game road trip, she tallied 53 points and 31 rebounds in two early season road league games.

With the win, the Lady Senators had won seven of their last 18 games to improve to 8-2 overall and 3-0 in TCCAA play, as Walters State has now won 149 of its last 150 games in TCCAA action.

The loss was the fifth in seven games for the Lady Eagles, as they dropped to 6-6 overall and 0-4 in league play.

The Lady Senators never trailed in the first half of the contest and led by as many as 12 points in the second period, but the Lady Eagles never let Walters State pull away in the opening two frames.

Walters State held a 17-11 lead after one period and built the lead to a dozen in the second frame, but Dyersburg State wound up outscoring the Lady Senators 20-11 in the second canto to cut the deficit to 36-31 by halftime.

Walters State shot 42.9 percent (15 of 35) from the field in the opening half, making 4 of 10 from long distance and 2 of 4 at the free throw line. The Lady Senators outrebounded the home team 29-16 in the half, but 17 turnovers kept the Lady Eagles in it.

Mendjiadeu set the pace for WSCC in the first 20 minutes, scoring 11 points and pulling down 7 rebounds, while Alexis Trice had 9 points and 6 rebounds and Zacharyia Esmon had 7 pints and 5 boards in the half.

The Lady Eagles were held to just 31.6 percent (12 of 38) shooting in the first half, making 4 of 15 on 3-point shots and 3 of 4 on free tosses. Beth Quadara led Dyersburg State with 8 points in the half.

The Lady Eagles hung tough through the third quarter, even cutting the lead to to just two points late in the frame before the Lady Senators scored the last two buckets of the period to take a 52-46 lead into the fourth.

Walters State steadily pulled away in the final 10 minutes, pushing the lead to 66-52 before the Lady Eagles closed the gap to 67-60, but the Lady Senators hit three late free throws to close out the win.

For the game, Walters State overcame 27 turnovers and shot 40.6 percent (26 of 64) from the field, including 4 of 16 from long range, while making 14 of 19 free throws. Brianna Dixon added 14 points and 8 rebounds for the Lady Senators.

The Lady Eagles shot 35.5 percent (22 of 62) from the floor, making 5 of 22 from 3-point land and 11 of 18 at the foul line, and they were outrebounded 52-26 in the contest. Morgan Terry led Dyersburg State with 14 points, while Kira Lowery added 11 in the loss.

The Lady Senators will return to action next Saturday with a 4 p.m. tip against TCCAA rival Jackson State (2-2, 0-2 TCCAA) inside 'Z' Buda Gymnasium and Assembly Hall.