Laker women pass early-season test at Lander 89-82
St. Fort paces four Clayton State players in double-figures with 17 points

GREENWOOD, S.C. --- NOVEMBER 21, 2006 --- After rolling through the Sleep Inn Classic over the weekend, the Clayton State Laker women’s basketball team received an early-season test on Tuesday at Lander.

It was a test that the Lakers passed as Clayton State pulled out an 89-82 barnburner over Lander at Horne Arena. The victory pushes 24^th-ranked Clayton State to 3-0 on the young season, while Lander falls to 2-1.

The victory gave third-year Laker head coach Dennis Cox his 53^rd victory at Clayton State, tying him for first place all-time with predecessor A.C. McCullers. Even though the two teams are both members of the Peach Belt Conference, the game was played as a non-conference contest.

But it was a measuring stick for the Laker women will face on a game-to-game basis for the rest of the season.

“It was an ugly win, but good teams find ways to win when they are not playing well, and we did that tonight,” said Cox. “They (Lander) are good, and it was conference-like intensity out there tonight.”

The game was practically a track meet as both teams played in transition most of the contest with plenty of scoring runs and lead changes to make the game entertaining.

Clayton State overcame an early deficit with a 16-0 run to take a 26-16 lead with 10:25 left in the half. Lander then went on a 22-11 run to take a 38-37 lead with 1:55 left on a Tierra Kirkland layup. However, Lynette Jackson, Sharon Wiles and Nikkisha Pritchett each made baskets to give the Lakers a 43-40 halftime lead.

In the second half, Clayton State had three double-digit leads before fending off a furious Lady Bearcat run. Lander went on a 19-9 run starting at the 8:08 mark to trim the Laker lead to 83-82 with 1:23 remaining as Tiara Good scored 10 points during the rally for the Lady Bearcats.

But Clayton State withstood the rally with a 6-0 run to finish the game. Jackson nailed a jumper at the 1:09 mark, and then Crystal Brown followed it with a lay-up after a key Lander turnover.

Marie St. Fort paced the Lakers with 17 points off the bench, followed by Wiles with 16 points. Jackson and Shantel Ragin each recorded double-doubles with 14 points and 11 rebounds. For the game, Clayton State shot 48 percent from the field, but the Lakers were only 9-for-21 (43 percent) from the free throw line.

For Lander, LaShonda Chiles scored 20 points, while Good scored 12 points and Kirkland scored 12 points.

Clayton State hits the road again on Saturday with a 4 p.m. game at Elizabeth City State.