Lady Pioneers Drop Close One to Chattanooga State

Lady Pioneers Drop Close One to Chattanooga State

By: Nick Kieser

CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE — Sitting at an even record in the conference and one game above .500 before last night's contest the Vol State Lady Pioneers (5-5) suffered a loss to break the even record.

Visiting the Chattanooga State Tigers (7-3) the Lady Pioneers fell short late missing a few free throw opportunities late in the game.  The Lady Tigers won 59-52 to get their second conference win of the season.  The Lady Tigers now jump the Pioneers in standings before they play Cleveland State (2-8).

"We need to be more aggressive because we know that the refs aren't going to give us calls.  We need to get the calls early so down the stretch it can be a better game," said TaVaiya Hamilton. 

Aliyah Miller and Hamilton agreed that if they hit their shots early in the game it would have been a different outcome.  

"We knew going into the second half that we needed to be more aggressive and keep our heads held high.  We won the third quarter because that's when we played the hardest.  If we played that way in the first half then we would've won this game," said Hamilton.

"I thought that we could have stolen this one.  We had a plan but in the third quarter they made up for the mistakes they had in the second half.  The free throw chances was what it came down to," said head coach Otis Key.

The short drive over to the gym this afternoon and waiting to play is all the Lady Pioneers have left to do aside from playing in a pivotal conference game.  Nothing is impossible.  The speed and mentality is there; it's all about the execution for the Pioneers.

"We played really well we just didn't have a good defensive effort the second half.  We just need the same mindset and carry that over to tomorrow's game," said Miller.

"We want to split this road trip.  Number one for confidence and getting away from basketball this Christmas break.  We will need this more mentality than we do physically at this point," said Key.

Follow the Pioneers on Twitter @VSCCPioneersWBB for updates and analysis on the game.