BY BRIAN HAMILTON
MORRISTOWN – Walters State dominated second-place Dyersburg State 80-41 on Saturday afternoon, as Terryauna Griffin torched the Eagles for 38 points, to give her 999 for her career. She is now only nine points away from breaking the all-time scoring record at Walters State.
Walters State’s Terryauna Griffin (21) shoots for three of her game-high 38 points against Dyersburg State on Saturday evening. Photo by Brian Hamilton
“I just talked to them (in the locker room) about all the roles that everybody has to have,” Walters State head coach Jasmin Coleman said. “Everybody will look at Griffin and see 38 points, and that’s great, but they don’t see Anaya Mulholland-Natt, who has held every leading scorer on every team, including the formerly No. 1 ranked Chipola, to single digits. I think she’s one of the top defenders in the country, even at her size. It’s on both ends. It’s Nyjah Gibbs rebounding it. I just think all three of them help play a huge part in our success this year.”
Malia Wilcox put Walters State on the board first with a pair of free throws, followed by a floater by Terryauna Griffin, accompanied by a foul, which made the score 5-0 after the free throw. Dyersburg was whistled for a shot clock violation on the other end, which was followed by a Nyjah Gibbs layup to make the score 7-0. midway through the first quarter.
Dyersburg State finally got on the board when Addison Widelski hit a long-range triple to pull the Lady Eagles to within 7-3. Griffin answered with a three on the other end to put Walters State in front 10-3. The Lady Senators would not allow another field goal in the first quarter, ending the period on a 10-1 run and leading 17-4.
The Lady Eagles began to push back in the second quarter, cutting the lead to 21-9 when Kelvia Campbell scored a layup with 6:49 left. Raegan Starks answered with a layup to extend the Lady Senators lead to 23-9 on the next possession.
It looked like Walters State would begin to put the game away from that point on, as a steal and layup by Griffin would put an exclamation point on a 8-0 run, giving the Lady Senators a 29-9 lead midway through the quarter and forcing Dyersburg to call a timeout.
Whatever was said in that timeout, it got through to the team, as Widelski banked in a three to cut the deficit to 29-12 with 3:25 left. A Widelski reverse layup would cut the deficit to 29-16 with 1:31 to go, as the Lady Eagles would end the half on a 9-0 run, but still trailing 29-18.
Coleman would not relay what she told her team at halftime after allowing Dyersburg to take momentum into the break.
Walters State’s Anaya Mulholland-Natt (54) attempts a layup during the Lady Senators’ 80-41 win over Dyersburg State. Photo by Brian Hamilton
“Trust me, it wasn’t good,” Coleman said after the game. “You just can’t have moments like that, where you’re not focused in on getting stops. We made an adjustment and came out with a lot more fire and that’s what you have to do. I told my sophomores returners, ‘Hey, this is your responsibility because you have already been in this moment last year.’ That’s exactly what I told my returners.”
Starks scored for Walters State to open the third quarter, stretching the lead to 31-18 and ending Dyersburg’s 9-0 run. The Lady Senators led 35-18 when Sanayah Starks hit a three to make the score 35-21 with 6:31 left.
On one possession in the third quarter, Starks went up for a layup in traffic and missed, then grabbed three rebounds in traffic and put it back up, until Griffin swooped in and cleaned up the mess, putting Walters State ahead 46-28.
A Griffin three-pointer gave Walters State a 51-28 lead with 16 seconds left, but Rebecca Wood scored a basket at the buzzer to make the score 51-30 after three quarters.
Griffin opened the fourth quarter with a rebound and putback to extend the Lady Senators’ lead to 53-30. Griffin then followed that with a three-pointer to make the score 56-30.
Walters State would put its foot on the gas in the final period, outscoring Dyersburg 29-11 in the fourth, en route to an 80-41 win.
“Every win is big when you’re dealing with the kind of numbers that we are,” Coleman said. “We’ve had people dealing with the flu, so we’ve had a few out, but you’ve still gotta play. You’ve gotta toughen up to get what you need done. Dyersburg is a well-coached team. I think (Nasthan Daume) does a great job and he’s beaten me here before, so yeah, it was a big game.”
In addition to Terryauna Griffin’s game-high 38, Malia Wilcox added 10, while Reagan Starks finished with eight.
Addison Widelski led Dyersburg State with 10 points, while Rebecca Wood finished with six. Sanayah Starks and Kelvia Campbell finished with five apiece for the Lady Eagles.
Walters State (20-2, 16-0 TCCAA) will travel to Pellissippi State (11-11, 7-8 TCCAA) on Wednesday evening, as Griffin looks to set a new school scoring record.
Dyersburg State (17-5, 12-3 TCCAA) is still firmly in second-place in the conference and will travel to Memphis on Wednesday to face Southwest Tennessee (9-9, 6-9 TCCAA).