CLEVELAND, Miss. – The University of West Alabama women’s basketball team fell to 2-7 on the season with a 63-38 loss to Delta State in the Lloyd Clark Classic in Cleveland, Miss. Valerie Harris led UWA in scoring with 11 points.

DSU (7-4) was led by Veronica Walker with 20 points. Walker tied Shameka Russell for the team lead in rebounds with seven apiece. Keiara Middleton paced the Tigers on the boards with six, followed by five from Harris.

UWA scored the first three points of the second half, narrowing the deficit to 10 points, behind a jumper by Harris and a free throw by Middleton, but DSU answered with a 10-1 run to push the lead out to 19 with 13:53 to play. The Lady Statesmen reached their largest lead of the game, 28 points, on a pair of free throws by Shun Townsend with 1:25 left in the contest.

DSU jumped out to a 9-4 lead in the early going, but a 4-0 spurt, capped by a jumper by UWA’s Danielle Baldwin, narrowed the lead to 9-8 with 11:58 remaining. The eight point mark however stayed with the Tigers for nearly 7:30 minutes, as the Lady Statesmen put together a 12-0 run and led 29-16 at the half.

West Alabama returns to action on Tuesday, Dec. 16, as UWA closes out pre-holiday action in the second day of the Lloyd Clark Classic against the University of Arkansas at Monticello. Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m. at Walter Sillers Coliseum.