Lady Bucs Drop Season Opener

Morristown, TN- The 2^nd ranked Shelton State Lady Bucs dropped their season opener 65-54 to the 18^th ranked Walters State Lady Senators.

The Lady Bucs were led by a duo of freshman Mississippians, Nadia Norfleet and Aryah Grace. Norfleet scored 12 points on 60% (6-10) from the field and Grace also posted 12 points in 50% (5-10) from the field. Grace led the team in rebounds with 6 while Norfleet added 4 assists.

The Lady Senators jumped out to a 13-4 lead early thanks to returning All-American Terryauna Griffin. Griffin would score 8 of her 15 points in the first 5 minutes of the game. The Lady Bucs battled back to tie the game on an Abethany James three-pointer with just 4 seconds left in the quarter.

The Lady Bucs were able to grab a three-point lead with less than a minute left in the 2^nd quarter before Malon Smith hit a driving lay-up at the buzzer to cut the lead to 1. Griffin led all scorers with 10 at the half. Norfleet had 8 at the break.

The second half was all Lady Senators as Malon Smith exploded for 13 points in the final 20 minutes. The Lady Bucs would go into the 4^th quarter down 5 and never get closer than that margin throughout the quarter.

"We were outplayed tonight," said head coach Madonna Thompson. "All credit to Coach Coleman, she had her team ready to go and kept us on our heels the whole second half."

The Lady Bucs wrap up play in the Carlyle-Kragel Classic tomorrow as they face Roane State at 1:00 PM (CT) on the campus of Walters State Community College in Morristown, TN.