No. 1 Lady Statesmen Too Much for Lady Bucs 54-39 :: Second-half rally not enough for CBU

Jan. 27, 2008

CLEVELAND, Miss.--No. 1 Delta State built a 40-19 lead and held on through a furious Christian Brothers University rally to defeat the Lady Bucs 54-39 Saturday afternoon to remain unbeaten and in first place in the Gulf South Conference West Division.

The Lady Statesmen (17-0, 5-0 GSC West) steadily built their lead through the first half, taking a 28-11 lead on a pair of Renita Jones free throws. The Lady Bucs (15-3, 3-2) trimmed the lead back to 11 when they scored on the first possession of the second half, but DSU reeled off a 10-0 spurt over the next three minutes to build the game's biggest lead at 21 points with 16:14 remaining.

The Lady Bucs fought back, making five three-pointers during a 17-6 run over the next nine minutes to whittle the lead back to 10 at 46-36 with 6:12 to play, but CBU could come no closer as Delta scored the game's last five points at the free throw line.

Junior forward Crystal Shelton (Nashville, Tenn./Hume Fogg HS) led the way for CBU with 12, while junior guard Kat Butler (Nashville, Tenn./Brentwood HS) added eight points and eight rebounds.

Sharita Cooper led the Lady Statesmen with 11 points, while Brittani Calhoun grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to go with seven points. DSU out-rebounded the Lady Bucs 40-27 for the game.

The Lady Statesmen shot 42.2 percent (19-of-45) from the floor to the Lady Bucs' 30.6 percent (15-of-49).

The Lady Bucs will be back in action Thursday night at 5 p.m. as they host Arkansas-Monticello.