TOP SEEDS ADVANCE TO WOMEN'S SEMIS

As the TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII Tournament moved into their second day, there were no surprises in Saturday's quarterfinals, but every game was not decided until late in each contest. In the opener, the Lady Senators of Walters State pulled away late to defeat the Lady Pioneers of Volunteer State 58-47.  They will meet the Lady Raiders of Roane State who defeated the Lady GreenJays of Jackson State 48-45.  The other semi will have the Lady Bucks of Motlow State taking on the Lady Tigers of Chattanooga State.  Motlow would come back to defeat Cleveland 77-72 while Chattanooga held on to advance with a 55-51 win over Southwest Tennessee.

In the day's first game, the Lady Senators jumped out to a double digit lead in the first half and led 37-24 at the end of the first half.  The Lady Pioneers made several charges in the second half, cutting their deficit to five midway through the 4th quarter at 51-46.  The Lady Senators would fight off the challenge and hold on to advance.  Walters was led by a trio double digit scorers led by Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu with 17 points, 12 rebounds, and three steals.  Zacharyia Esmon and Jamaya Rogers also reached double digits with 12 and 10 points.  Briana Dixon led with four assists while Esmon and Alexis Trice each had three in the contest.  Kelsey Harriman and Xavia Williams reach double digits with 12 and 10 points while Aliyah Miller was credited with 10 assists.

The Roane/Jackson matchup was a close matchup throughout the game.  Roane held the lead for most of the game before Jackson took the lead with under three minutes to play.  The Lady Raiders responded with five straight points to take the lead for good.  Adalys Brown was the only Lady Raider to reach double digits with 23 points.  Amber Appiah-Kubi and Cinthia Mbakop led the team with nine rebounds while Appiah-Kubi also had a team high five assists.  Semajia Ogburn led the GreenJays with 23 points and 12 rebounds.  Shania Johnson had a team high six assists.

The third game was also a close competitive matchup as the game was still tied after the first twenty minutes at 38 all.  The Lady Cougars took a six point lead by the end of the third quarter.  The Lady Bucks would tie the contest with six and half minutes to play before pulling away late on free throws for the win.  Motlow placed four scorers in double digits led by Dominique Fields with 18 points.  Janna Lewis, Kaitlin Thomas, and Starasia Bell-Freeman followed with 16, 14, and 12 respectively.  Azhane Bacot led the team with 15 rebounds while Fields led with six assists.  Freeman shared the team high lead with Tanisia Murphy with four steals.

The nightcap also saw a close contest which wasn't decided until the last minutes of the contest.  The game was tied at 46 with 90 seconds left to play.  The Lady Tigers took their last lead on a three-pointer and held on by hitting 6 of 8 free throws down the stretch.  Ashlyn Baker and MacKenzie Trouten were the only double digit scorers with 17 and 12 points.  Zikaya Wright led the team with 12 rebounds.  Lucy Edosomah led with three assists and Shanice Nelson led three steals.  The Lady Saluquis had three ladies in double digits led by Tamia Curry with 15 points.  Takya Bennett and Aliyah Foote also supported with 12 and 10 points.  Curry led with nine rebounds while Foote had a team high five assists and four steals.