The Cleveland State women's basketball team started the TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII Tournament by beating Southwest Tennessee 57-51 outscoring the Lady Salukis in three out of four quarters as the top four seeds moved to the next round of the single elimination tournament.
The Cougars “Big Three” of Tionna Baker, Laney Bone and Destiny Remy scored in double figures with Baker going for 18, Remy with 14 while Bone tossed in 10. Rounding out the scoring included seven from Latisha Parris, five from Derriona Slater and three by Anika Smith.
Cleveland State outrebounded Southwest 40-32 as Bone pulled down 11 boards while Remy grabbed 10. Baker rebounded eight off the glass while Parris and Smith had four and three respectively.
The Cougars were all over the floor leading to 13 steals, four from Smith and three each from Bone, Baker and Parris. Southwest had seven steals.
The stage is set for number three seed Cleveland State to play number two seed Chattanooga State on Monday March 6 at 2:00 p.m. EST. During the regular season the teams split with both games being closely contested contests. The winner is set to play either number one seed Walters State or number four seed Roane State with that game scheduled to be played two hours prior to the Cougars game.
The tournament is being hosted by Roane State in Harriman Tennessee.