CSCC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL VS. CHATTANOOGA STATE - TCCAA/NJCAA REGION VII TOURNAMENT (3-6-13)

By BRYAN GRISHAM
CSCC Sports Information

LYNCHBURG - The Curtain came crashing down on the 2012/2013 basketball season for the Cleveland State Lady Cougars on Wednesday afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII Basketball Tournament. The fourth seeded Lady Cougars sliced a 16 point lead by the fifth seeded Chattanooga State Lady Tigers all the way down to a single bucket in the final seconds, but couldn't complete the comeback as they fell to their arch rival by a final score of 68-62.

A pair of layups from Robyn Anthony put the Lady Cougars on top 8-6 early in the game, but from that point on the Lady Tigers were just too tough as they took the lead on two straight shots from downtown by Khamiyah Crawford and would never trail in the game again. The inside/outside combination of Crawford and Stevonna Scott proved to be a lethal combination with Scott pouring in 13 points in the paint while Crawford continued to let fly from behind the arc.

Three buckets in the paint by Carley Fetzer sliced the Chattanooga State lead to four points late in the first half, but Sierra Sales countered with a pair of shots in the paint to help the Lady Tigers to a 32-25 halftime advantage.

Crawford picked right up where she left off to start the second half with two more treys as the Lady Tiger lead grew to double digits. A pair of buckets and two more free tosses from Sales pushed the Chattanooga State lead to 16 points at the eight minute mark.

Slowly, but surely, the Lady Cougars whittled away at the lead. An 8-2 run cut the lead back to single digits at the five minute mark. Two straight buckets in the lane by Mercedes Owens cut the lead to six and a long three-point bomb by Chelsea Jones cut it to three with 45 seconds to play. Jara Gasper nailed a 3, seconds later, cutting the lead to only two points, but the Lady Tiger defense stopped the rally with two great defensive stands and hit three of their final five free throws to seal the hard earned win.

The Lady Cougars finish the season with an 18-10 record while the Lady Tigers will move into the semifinal round on Friday and a date with top seeded and 7th ranked Nationally, Walters State. Cleveland State shot just 30 percent for the game compared to 40 percent for the Lady Tigers.

Anthony paced the Lady Cougars with 16 points, Me'Lisa Martez added nine points while Davis, Gasper and Fetzer all finished with seven points. Scott paved the way for Chattanooga State with 21 points, Crawford added 19 and Sales finished with 12.