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Both teams entered the contest tied for first place in the Peach Belt South Division with identical 4-0 records, and both were enjoying tremendous winning streaks (eight straight for Clayton State; nine straight for Columbus State). However, Clayton State gained the advantage in the division race as the Lakers pulled out a thrilling 69-61 victory over Columbus State.
The victory was the ninth straight for 10th-ranked Clayton State, which improves to 15-1 overall and 5-0 in the Peach Belt.
“I’ve always said that to win the conference, you have win out at home and steal a few on the road, and tonight we stole one when we didn’t play that well,” said Clayton State head coach Dennis Cox. “A win is a win.”
Clayton State won despite getting hammered on the glass as Columbus State out-rebounded the Lakers 41-29. The key was on the perimeter, where Clayton State shot 50 percent (9-for-18) from the 3-point range. That included a horrid 60 percent from beyond the arc in the second half when the Lakers overcame a two-point deficit with a 16-3 run over a four-minute span.
Guards Marie St. Fort and Nikkisha Pritchett were the triggers for Clayton State. St. Fort gave the Lakers a 53-48 lead at the 8:42 mark, and Pritchett followed with a 3-point basket to make it 56-48 with 7:57 remaining. Pritchett followed with another 3-point basket, and then Roberta Phillips’ jump shot in the lane made the Laker lead 61-48 with 6:32 remaining.
“Marie and Nikki may have played seven or eight minutes there where they made the shots,” Cox said. “We’ve been waiting for Nikki to shoot like this season, and Marie has been committed to making her shot better.”
However, Columbus State wasn’t giving up. Mixing a man-to-man defense with an attacking offense and crashing the offensive glass, the Lady Cougars went on a 13-3 run to trim the Laker lead to 64-61 with 1:54 remaining. But Clayton State’s Lynette Jackson sank two free throws with one minute remaining, and then the Lakers made a key stop on Columbus State’s ensuing possession, which resulted both a Lady Cougar personal and technical foul.
The Lakers’ Shantel Ragin sank two free throws and Sharon Wiles sank another with 16 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
“They (Columbus State) picked up there late and we got a little tentative offensively when they switched to the man,” Cox said. “I was real disappointed in the defensive rebounding. We knew they were good on the offensive glass, but that almost cost us the game.”
Wiles paced Clayton State with 15 points, while Pritchett scored 12 points off the bench on 4-for-7 shooting from 3-point range and Ragin added 11 points. For the game, Clayton State an impressive 86 percent (12-for-14) from the free throw line.
Tamara Peterson scored 16 points for Columbus State (12-4, 4-1), followed by Cherwonna Walker with 14 points and nine rebounds. Ashleigh Beverly added 10 points off the bench for the Lady Cougars.
Clayton State travels to the Sandhills of North Carolina this
weekend for a 2 p.m. game at UNC-Pembroke on Saturday. |
the in-state Peach
Belt Conference women’s basketball showdown between Clayton State
and Columbus State.