MORRISTOWN, TN – No. 17 Walters State put up a fight in their season opener Saturday afternoon against No. 10 Shelton State but came up short in a 57-46 defeat.
With the loss, the Lady Senators fell to 0-1 on the season.
"Season opening games are all about learning what we need to improve on," Walters State coach Jasmin Coleman said. "For us, we need to focus on finishing at the rim. We had a lot of good looks around the rim but just couldn't get the shots to fall. We're just going to focus on limiting turnovers and getting our shots to go down."
Defensively, the Lady Senators played hard as they held Shelton State to 23-52 from the field and 1-9 from the 3-point line. Walters State forced 20 turnovers.
However, the Lady Senators struggled offensively as they shot just 15-57 from the field, 2-11 from 3-point range, and committed 20 turnovers of their own.
Asia Barr, Briontanay Marshall and Kristyna Boyd all finished with 12 points in the game. Marshall added nine rebounds and four steals, while Barr had five assists, four rebounds and three steals. Boyd added five rebounds and two steals.
Other contributors for Walters State were Kyra Perkins with six points, Emmanuella Amaefula with three rebounds, two assists and two steals and Tianna Rhodes and Juilenne Ongbagnamen with two points each.
It was a slower start to the game for the Lady Senators as they fell behind 18-8 after one quarter. Barr had five points, while Marshall had two.
But Walters State tried to right the ship in the second quarter as they scored 11 and cut the lead to 28-19 at the half. In the second quarter, Barr and Marshall each had four points, while Ongbagnamen had two.
In the third quarter, the Lady Senators continued to chip away as they made it 37-29 heading to the final 10 minutes. Boyd went to work in the paint in the third with six points. Barr and Marshall each had two steals, as well.
In the fourth, the Lady Senators fell behind by 14 early but a Boyd free throw and a Perkins and-one got the lead down to 10 with 6:39 to go. Walters State would keep the Shelton lead at 10 for the next couple minutes before a Marshall layup and two free throws made it 47-41 with 3:29 to go.
Unfortunately, that was as close as Walters State would get as Shelton State made free throws late to seal the win.
Up Next:
Walters State will be back in action next Saturday as they host Spartanburg Methodist. Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Rob Harvey
Walters State Community College
Sports Information Director
Cell: (423) 779-8880
Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu
Website: www.ws.edu/athletics