CSCC LADY COUGARS WIN GOING AWAY
By: Bryan Grisham
CSCC Sports Information
ROME, Ga. — The Cleveland State Lady Cougars got back to
their winning ways Tuesday night as they traveled to Georgia
Northwestern for a nonconference fight with the Lady Cats on their
home turf. The Lady Cougars shook off a slow start to win going
away by a final score of 80-57.
Ciera Anderson and Chelsea Jones did most of the damage for the
Lady Cougars in the first half with six points each as the visitors
dominated the paint in the early going. Both teams started ice
cold, but Cleveland State warmed a bit and went on a 12-2 run to
take a 33-19 halftime advantage.
"We took the lead early and kept it the entire game. They would
make a run and we would stretch it back out, but it was never
comfortable and it didn't feel like we had that big of a lead,"
explained Lady Cougar coach Dan Lumpkin. "It was a very physical,
intense game with a lot of contact. We did a really good job of
keeping our composure in a tough game."
The Lady Cougars stretched their lead to a 20-point bulge in the
second half, but the Lady Cats made a run and sliced the lead down
to 13 points after Emily Cole and Keesa Wise 3-pointers. Hannah
Brown helped Cleveland State maintain its lead with a pair of
buckets in close, and one more from downtown. Brown picked up nine
of her game-high 15 points in the second half.
Jara Gasper nailed a 3-pointer and Robyn Anthony added three
driving layups to the cause down the stretch and the Lady Cougars
added steadily to their lead from the charity stripe. Cleveland
State hit 30-of-40 free throws in the game including 23-of-29 in
the second half for a cool 75 percent for the game. The Lady Cats
hit 15 of their 19 free-throw attempts.
"We finished strong and did a good job of handling the ball against
their pressure," the coach continued. "We didn't shoot the ball
particularly well from the perimeter, but we did a better job of
executing and getting high percentage shots. We shot free throws
really well; that was a big key to the game, if we hadn't shot free
throws well it would have been tough, and a much closer game."
After Brown's 15 points, Anderson finished with 12, Gasper had 11
and Jones and Anthony added 10 to lead Cleveland State (2-3).
Kiarra Parks paced the Lady Cats (2-3) with 17 points while Wise
added 15.
Cleveland State will travel to both Middle and West Tennessee this
weekend with a trip to Columbia State on Friday at 7 p.m. for a
pair of games. The Cougars then move on to Jackson State Saturday
afternoon at 3 for a doubleheader.
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