Lady Senators fall in close contest to Cleveland State

CLEVELAND, TN – With time winding down in Saturday's contest between No. 25 Walters State and Cleveland State and with the Lady Senators trailing by three, Blayre Shultz appeared to have sent the game to overtime.

Shultz, who had been bottled up for the majority of the game, fired up a 3-pointer with five seconds left from well past the line and the ball seemingly went all the way down.

And then it popped out.

Shultz shot just rimmed out and, despite a basket with one second left from Quentarra Mitchell, it was not enough as the Lady Senators fell 66-65.

With the loss, Walters State moves to 9-3 on the season and 8-3 in conference play.

Walters State was led in the game by Shultz who had 16 points on 6-17 shooting. Shultz had six rebounds as well.

Along with Shultz, Mitchell collected her second double-double of the season as she had 14 points and 15 rebounds. Kiera Hill added 13 points and seven rebounds while Madison Mccoy had 11 points.

The Lady Senators shot 41.3% from the field as a team and out-rebounded Cleveland State 47-35. However, it was Walters State's 21 turnovers that proved to be the difference as the Lady Cougars had 22 points off turnovers.

It was a slow start for both teams as Walters State fell behind 10-4 five minutes into the contest. Mitchell and Shultz calmed the storm after that, tying the game, before Hill hit a jumper that gave Walters State the lead and forced a timeout by Cleveland State.

Following the timeout, however, it was the Lady Cougars who took back the momentum and led 18-14 after one.

In the second, it was much of the same as Cleveland State had their lead to seven at one point before Wiggins scored three straight, Haley Comer made a jump shot and Mccoy hit a layup that got the lead down to two. The Lady Cougars pushed their lead to three with seconds remaining before Shultz hit a wild 3-pointer at the buzzer that tied the game at 33.

In the third quarter, Cleveland State continued to lead, but the Lady Senators would not let them pull away. Then with two minutes to go in the quarter, Shultz buried a 3-pointer that gave Walters State the lead. It was short lived though as Cleveland State responded and led 51-50 after three.

In the fourth, Walters State tried to pull away early as Hill hit a layup and Mccoy made a shot to make it 59-56 in favor of the Lady Senators. Walters State would keep the lead for a while until, with 1:25 left in the game, Cleveland State's Nicky Jones drained two free throws to put them in front 62-61. After two more free throws from Cleveland State, Hill hit a shot with 50 seconds left and was fouled. However, Hill missed the free throw and, after Cleveland State hit two more free throws, Shultz shot rimmed just out.

UP NEXT:

Walters State will be back in action next Thursday, April 1, as they close out the regular season with a home contest against Roane State. Tip is set for 5:30 p.m.

Rob Harvey

Walters State Community College

Sports Information Director

Cell: (423) 779-8880

Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu

Website: www.ws.edu/athletics