PBC Tournament Champs! Laker women down Columbus State 50-43
Ragin selected Tournament MVP, Phillips All-Tournament as Clayton State earns NCAA bid

GREENWOOD, S.C. --- MARCH 4, 2007 --- The nets are cut, the trophy has been presented and the Clayton State Laker women’s basketball has its ticket punched for the “Big Dance.”

Behind a stellar defensive effort in the first half, Clayton State completed its run at the 2007 Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship with a 50-43 victory over in-state rival Columbus State at Lander’s Horne Arena. The championship is the second in the last three seasons for head coach Dennis Cox’s Lakers. In addition, Clayton State will be making its third straight trip to the NCAA Division II National Tournament.

Just like Armstrong Atlantic and Georgia College in the quarterfinals, Clayton State was victorious over Columbus State three times this season, and the Lakers have now won six straight against their in-state rivals.

“We feel blessed and fortunate to even have a chance to play today,” said Cox, now 75-18 in three seasons at Clayton State. “It seemed that every opponent we had had more motivation to win. Each team we beat twice in the regular season, but it’s really tough to beat teams in this league twice, much less three times.”

The Lakers’ defensive performance in the first half set the tone. Clayton State (25-5) limited Columbus State to only 13 percent (3-for-23) shooting in the first half. The Lakers, meanwhile, used an 11-0 run to stretch its lead to 22-7 with 7:19 remaining. Columbus State was able to cut the deficit to 12 points, but Clayton State finished out the half on a 9-2 run to lead 31-12 at halftime.

Each time Columbus State tried to make a move on Clayton State in the second half, the Lakers had an answer.

The Lady Cougars got back to within striking distance with a 7-0 run and two Cherwonna Walker free throws cut the Laker lead to 41-30 at the 6:54 mark. However, Clayton State answered on its ensuing possession as Roberta Phillips nailed a key 3-point basket to stretch the lead to 14 points.

The Lady Cougars cut the Clayton State lead again down to 10 points on Ashley Stafford’s jump shot with two minutes remaining, but it was too little, too late for the Lady Cougars.

“We were successful with our half-court defense, which is a switch as we normally have success with the full-court trap,” Cox said. “I was proud of our defensive effort, and we really controlled the tempo.”

Lynette Jackson had a huge game off the bench for Clayton State with 13 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots. Roberta Phillips scored 11 points, while Shantel Ragin grabbed 10 rebounds and had six steals. Ragin was selected the Peach Belt Tournament Most Valuable Player, and Phillips was also selected to the All-Tournament team.