MORRISTOWN, TN -- Walters State's Lady Senators stayed atop the Tennessee Community College Athletic Association standings by rolling past Columbia State, 75-50, Saturday afternoon at Z Buda Gymnasium.
The Lady Senators got off to a slow start but took control with a 20-6 scoring margin in the second quarter and coasted to their ninth league win against a single loss. Coach Jasmin Coleman's team is now 11-5 for the season.
Columbia State saw its record dip to 5-9 overall and 3-5 in league play with the loss.
Kiera Hill poured in 25 points to lead the Lady Senators while Tyasia Reed added 12 and Germariona Hollingsworth 11.
The Lady Chargers got 17 points from Tia Floyd and 11 from Nya Caruthers.
Coleman said, "We got off to a slow start but finally got untracked in the second quarter and played well at times after that. I was proud of our effort. I thought Kiera was her normal self, and Tyasia was strong off the bench as well.
"It was a good way to bounce back from the loss earlier in the week," she added. "We needed to come out and play well after that."
Walters State never trailed after getting the first two baskets of the game from Hill and Maiya Reed. The Lady Senators led by only 13-11 before Ryann Woodley scored the final points of the first quarter with 38 seconds left.
After Hill and Floyd traded baskets to start the second stanza, Walters State reeled off a 16-1 spurt to break the game open. Hollingsworth started the spree with back-to-back buckets.
Hill added a basket and two charity tosses after Denj'za Jackson's free throw for the Lady Chargers. Tyasia Reed and Woodley hit field goals and Hill capped the spurt with a free throw that made it 33-14 with 1:12 left in the half.
It was 35-17 at the half and the margin reached 24 at 48-24 on a basket by Hollingsworth with 2:18 left in the third. Floyd sparked a 7-0 run by the Lady Chargers but Walters State scored the final four of the quarter and led 53-31 going into the final quarter.
Hill made two foul shots for a 64-36 spread before Jackson and Teriana Covington scored for the visitors. Hollingsworth and Hill scored all the points in a 7-0 Lady Senators run before Columbia State closed it back down to 71-50 with less than two minutes remaining.
Tyasia Reed then scored the games final four points.
Coleman remarked, "We had some good scoring runs but we also allowed them to have a couple of runs, too.
"But in the end, it was a win and any win is a good win, especially when it's a conference win.
"I thought Kiera did a good job for us both scoring and rebounding. It was a good team victory with eight girls scoring and everybody getting to play quite a bit."
Rob Harvey
Walters State Community College
Sports Information Director
Cell: (423) 779-8880
Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu
Website: www.ws.edu/athletics