The Lady Cougars dropped a 70-62 decision to the Raiderettes while the Cougars let a late lead slip away as they fell 83-76.
Mariah Lawrence knocked down four shots from downtown in the first half as Cleveland State connected eight times from behind the arc. But the Raiderettes countered with their strong inside game, namely Tasha Phillips, who had 12 points in the half, to take a 31-30 halftime lead.
The Lady Cougars fell behind by as many as 11 points in the second half before starting one of their patented comeback attempts. Michelle Davis poured in all 10 of her points down the stretch and Takeya Day hit her second trey of the game and the Lady Cougars got as close as three points. But, that would be as close as it would get. The Raiderettes hit their free tosses (15 of 18 in the second half) to secure the win.
Lawrence finished with 19 points to lead the Lady Cougars (19-3, 12-3) and Day added nine. Phillips paced the Raiderettes with 15 points while Jacquelyn Hickson and Jill Herman added 14 apiece.
Phillip Jenkins and Keith Johnson kept the Cougars right on the heels of the much taller Raiders in the first half of the men’s game with 12 and 11 points respectively. But the home team did manage to pound the ball inside just enough to take a 41-37 halftime advantage.
Terrell Parks tossed in all 13 of his points in the second half as the Cougars steadily fought their way back and briefly took the lead at 69-68 with just over five minutes to go. But from there the Cougars went cold from the floor while the Raiders regained control of the paint and hit just enough free throws to seal the win.
Johnson paced the Cougars (10-13, 3-12) with 23 points while Jenkins finished with 17. Quintale Clinkscales led five Raiders in double-digit scoring with 20 points.
Cleveland State will now regroup and get ready for a tough road trip to West Tennessee with a stop in Dyersburg on Friday night at 7 p.m. and Southwest Tennessee on Saturday afternoon at 3.
