The Cougar loss to Chattanooga State 68-62 on Monday March 6 at the TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII Tournament eliminated them from the single elimination tournament erasing their National Tournament goal.  The semifinal game was a hard fought back and forth contest between the #2 and #3 seeds of the tournament.

Cleveland State featured four players in double figures starting with Tionna Baker who tossed in 21 while grabbing eight boards, Laney Bone with 15 points and 15 rebounds, Latisha Parris with 13 and finally Derionna Salter at 11.

Jumping off to a 16-6 first quarter lead Cleveland State was unable to build on the advantage throughout the game as turnovers played a major role with the Cougars at 20 while Chattanooga had nine.  Shooting 35.7% from the field was a positive stat where the Cougars shined as the Tigers went at a pace of 31.1%. 

Cleveland State outrebounded Chattanooga by 10 at 52-42 but it was a different story from the Free Throw line as Chattanooga went to the charity stripe 37 times making 27 while the Cougars were awarded 15 attempts and made 11.

On the season including tournament play Cleveland State finished 18-7 with a conference regular season mark of 14-4.

The stage is now set at the tournament as #1 seed Walters State is set to play #2 seed Chattanooga State with the winner headed to compete at the national tournament.  Game time at host college Roane State is set for 2:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday March 7.