Lady Senators take down Roane State on ‘Sophomore Night’

MORRISTOWN, Tenn. — Walters State outscored Roane State 37-24 in the second half on their way to a 77-56 win at 'Z' Buda Gymnasium Wednesday night to close out their home campaign.

After keeping it close for a half despite not substituting a single player, Roane State grew tired in the second frame, allowing Walters State to take advantage on both ends of the floor. The Lady Senators sent Alexis Trice, Emily Swafford and Jamya Rogers out in style on sophomore night.

"We came out in the third quarter and played better," Walters State coach Dave Kragel said. "We got after them and made it much more difficult to get shots. I thought that Roane State did a really good job at playing with only five kids. They were really well coached. It's good to get a win."

With the win, the Lady Senators improved to 18-9 on the season and 15-2 in the conference, maintaining first place in the TCCAA and guaranteeing at least a tie for the league title. Walters State was led by Blayre Shultz, who totaled 25 points, making five 3-pointers. Paris Mullins added 12 points while Rogers had 10.

Walters State used their depth throughout the game to take advantage of Roane State's slim roster. While the same five played for the Lady Raiders all night, the Lady Senators were substituting four players in just a couple minutes into the game.

"I think our depth helped us this evening, but we have to get everyone on the same page at all times," Kragel said. "We are getting better and our depth is helping with that."

It was an even first 10 minutes with Roane State matching the Lady Senators shot for shot. Walters State broke out to an early 9-0 lead as Rogers had four and Shultz had three. However, the Lady Raiders answered back and eventually tied the game at 19 late in the quarter. It took a Quentarra Mitchell layup with a minute left to give the Lady Senators the lead back.

The Lady Raiders continued to hang tough in the second quarter, keeping the lead to single digits. But the Lady Senators got some momentum in the final minute as Mullins threw in two shots, one at the buzzer, to make it an eight-point game.

Using that momentum, Walters State came out firing, especially Shultz. Shultz hit back-to-back threes to start the half, and the Lady Senators got the lead all the way to 17 just two and a half minutes into the third. The lead stayed there as Walters State outscored the Lady Raiders 17-8 in the quarter to lead by 17.

"We did the same stuff (in the third quarter), we were just getting to them," Kragel said. "They missed shots too, and we too advantage of that."

Any chance of a comeback was shot down rather quickly as the Lady Senators opened the quarter on a 14-3 run that included back-to-back threes from Shultz again. Walters State was on cruise control the rest of the way and Trice capped off sophomore day for her with a bang, drilling a 3-pointer.

NEXT UP

Walters State will be looking for their 11th straight regular season conference title on Saturday night as they travel to take on Jackson State at 3 p.m.

"We just have to keep playing and keep trying to get better," Kragel said. "That's about the only thing we can do at this point. We need to have a win, and we'll be the conference champions again."