Lady Senators close strong for 81-51 win over Pellissippi State in TCCAA/Region 7 Tournament

GALLATIN, TN – Top-seeded Walters State led 51-46 midway through the third quarter on Sunday against eighth-seeded Pellissippi State at the TCCAA/Region 7 Tournament, but the Lady Senators scored 30 of the final 35 points to coast to an 81-51 win over the Lady Panthers. 

With the win, Walters State will play Motlow State in the Semifinals on Monday at 5 pm ET. 

Nyjah Gibbs led the way for the Lady Senators in the game with 22 points and 15 rebounds, her 11th double-double of the season. Along with Gibbs, Raegan Starks finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Terryauna Griffin had 12 points.

Other contributors for Walters State were Malon Smith with seven points, eight assists and six rebounds, Anaya Mulholland-Natt with seven points, Paradise Fisher with seven points, Malia Wilcox with seven points and four steals, Tierra Coleman with five points and eight rebounds and Mariana Calero Zuniga with four points. 

Pellissippi State led 4-2 early, but Starks hit two free throws, Gibbs scored, Griffin made a free throw and Smith scored to give Walters State a 9-4 lead. Pellissippi scored to break the run, but the Lady Senators answered with nine straight. Griffin got things going with a 3-pointer, and Smith scored three in a row after. Coleman closed out the run with three straight points to make it an 18-6 game. Pellissippi scored four more in the quarter to get it to 18-10, but Wilcox scored five straight and Gibbs scored to make it 25-10 after one.

In the second, Pellissippi kept close and had things down to 29-19. Gibbs broke the drought for the Lady Senators with a basket, and Mulholland-Natt followed with a 3-pointer and two free throws to make it 36-19. Mulholland-Natt hit one more 3-pointer in the half, and it was 44-27 at the break.

However, Pellissippi opened the third quarter with 11 straight to get the lead down to 44-38. Smith hit a free throw to get the Lady Senators back on the board, and Starks scored four straight to get the lead to 49-42. 

Pellissippi stayed close and cut it to 51-46, but that's when the Lady Senators took over. Starks started it with a basket, and Gibbs hit two free throws to get the lead to 55-46. The Lady Panthers scored one more time in the quarter, but Gibbs hit a free throw, Coleman scored and Smith hit a free throw to end the quarter and make it a 59-48 lead for the Lady Senators. 

In the fourth, Gibbs scored five straight, and Griffin followed with six in a row to make it 70-48. The Lady Panthers finally hit a free throw to break the 19-2 run, but Fisher scored seven in the final three minutes, and Calero Zuniga made two layups to get the final score to 81-51.