The Walters State Lady Senators showed all in attendance why they are the second ranked team in all the land on Saturday afternoon as they handed the 20th ranked Cleveland State Lady Cougars a lopsided 78-46 loss at the Charles Terry Athletics Wing.
The Cougars suffered a similar fate in he men's contest as they dropped a 73-60 decision to the Senators.
The Lady Cougars hit four of their first six shots against the Lady Senators in the early going as they stayed right on the heels of the home team.
Walters State flexed their considerable muscles in the paint midway through the half for a 10-2 run and a 16-9 lead as Monashia Bolduc and Jephany Brown did most of the damage.
The Lady Cougars then stopped the run with a 9-0 spurt of their own as Aysia Grimsley nailed a three-pointer and Tre'Ketta Bonds and Jamesha Mosley converted an offensive rebound each to put the visitors on top at the eight minute mark, 18-16.
The Lady Senators then regained control of the paint as they finished the half with a 12-4 run to take a 36-27 advantage at the break.
Walters State shot an amazing 51 percent in the first half while holding Cleveland State to only 30 percent.
The Lady Senators took full advantage of their tall trees in the paint in the second half as they ran away and hid from the Lady Cougars.
Bolduc, Jephany Brown, Donnesha Shuler-Brown and Jasmine McAllister took turns knocking down shot after shot and controlling the backboards on both ends while Breonna Hall hit a tri-fecta of treys from downtown as the home team cruised to the big Region VII conference win.
Brown paced the Lady Senators (20-0, 9-0) with 20 points, McAllister added 15 points and 13 rebounds while Hall added 14 points. Mosley led the Lady Cougars (14-3, 6-3) with 19 points, Grimsley added 10 points and Katrice Harris had eight.
SENATORS 73 COUGARS 60
The men's contest seesawed back and forth for much of the first half as the lead changed hands eight times in the early going. Stetson Moore, Simon Clifford and Jackie Hale all connected from behind the arc as the Cougars took an 18-15 lead midway through the first half.
The Senators then used a 15-3 run to take the lead as Elgrin Wilson tossed in six points in the paint to help the home team to a 32-24 halftime lead. The Senators outrebounded the Cougars 26-11 in the first half.
The Cougars quickly erased the deficit to start the second half as Robert Brandon poured in seven quick points including a 3-pointer to help his team cut the lead to only two points at 35-33.
The Senators then scored the next six points as they maintained a slim lead. Moore hit three more long range bombs and Keevin Tyus poured in 10 points in the paint as the Cougars sliced the lead to one point, 43-42. But, that would be as close as it would get as the Senators took back the momentum and zipped right back out to a comfortable lead down the stretch to post the 13 point win.
Tyus led the Cougars (9-6, 4-5) with 19 points and 9 boards, Brandon finished with 16 points and Moore added 12. Aaron Wheeler led all scorers for the Senators (11-10, 4-5) with 26 points while former Cougar, Trey Suttles added 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Cleveland State will hit the road to Middle Tennessee next weekend with games at Jackson State on Friday and Columbia State on Saturday.