Lady Senators open up 2025 with 71-54 win over Southwest Virginia

CEDAR BLUFF, VA – Walters State opened up the 2025 portion of its schedule on Thursday evening, grabbing a 71-54 win over Southwest Virginia.

With the victory, the Lady Senators improved to 9-4 on the season.

"Happy to open the new year with a win on the road," Walters State coach Jasmin Coleman said. "I thought we handled playing in a tough environment very well. Proud of how all 10 handled that." 

Terryauna Griffin and Kyra Perkins led the way in the scoring column, Griffin with 24 points and Perkins with 23 points. Griffin had 21 in the first half, while Perkins had 17 in the second half.

Along with those two, Raegan Starks had nine points, Alexis Hood had four points, Anaya Mulholland-Natt had four points, Ellie Linx had three points, Jahliya McDonald had two points and Nyjah Gibbs had two points. 

Southwest Virginia scored the first two points of the game, but Griffin responded with five straight to give Walters State the lead. Southwest Virginia scored four straight to grab the lead back, but the Lady Senators responded with an 8-0 run. During the run, Hood scored, Perkins scored, McDonald scored and Gibbs hit two free throws that made it 13-7.

Southwest Virginia cut it to one soon after, but Walters State got a Perkins basket, a Griffin basket and a Hood made shot to end the quarter and give the Lady Senators a 19-14 advantage. 

In the second quarter, Griffin hit two threes in the first three minutes that allowed Walters State to hold the lead. Southwest Virginia continued to chip away, making it 25-23, but Linx drilled a trey with 4:54 to go in the half. Griffin then hit another 3-pointer before Perkins scored. Southwest Virginia scored to cut the Walters State advantage to 33-29, but Griffin hit back-to-back threes, her fourth and fifth of the half. The Lady Senators led 38-31 at the break. 

The third quarter started poorly for the Lady Senators, with Southwest Virginia scoring the first six points to cut the lead to one. However, Perkins got Walters State on the board with a basket and the floodgates opened from there, as the Lady Senators went on a 15-0 run that made it 53-37. During the run, Perkins scored nine points, while Starks had the other six points. Southwest Virginia scored in the final minute of the quarter to break the run, but Walters State led 53-39 going to the fourth.

The final 10 minutes saw Walters State's lead remain in double digits, going on for the 17-point win. In the quarter, Perkins had eight more points while Mulholland-Natt added four. Griffin also hit her sixth 3-pointer of the game. 

Up Next:

Walters State jumps back into conference play on Wednesday, January 8, traveling to take on Pellissippi State. Tip is set for 5:30 pm.