No. 6 Clayton State women come alive, roll past visiting Chowan 87-45

MORROW, Ga. – December 2, 2011 – Playing its first game in nearly a week, the Clayton State Laker women's basketball team turned up the tempo and its pressure defense on Friday night in rolling to an impressive 87-45 victory over visiting Chowan at the Athletics and Fitness Center.

The victory was the second straight for the Lakers, ranked No. 6 in Division II, who improve to 5-1 overall. Chowan falls to 2-5.

The Lakers utilized their press efficiently, forcing the Hawks into 32 turnovers while holding Chowan to only 35 percent shooting from the field. The key turning point in the contest was at the midway point of the first half when Clayton State broke the game open with 15-0 run.

Chowan cut the Clayton State lead to 20-15 on a lay-up by Naima Harrington at the 8:06 mark. However, that would be the last points for the Hawks over the next five minutes.

Drameka Griggs spearheaded the Laker rally with a 3-point play at the 7:24 mark to increase the Clayton State lead to 10 points. That was followed by two straight 3-point baskets by Alexiss Griffin and Genesis Kelly. Finally, two free throws by Brandice Howard with 3:33 remaining put the Laker lead at 35-15.

A lay-up by Griggs gave Clayton State its largest lead of the first half, 45-21 with 15 seconds remaining.

The Lakers opened the second half on an 8-0 run and never looked back. A 3-point basket by Keona Dixon increased the Clayton State lead to 56-24 with 16:07 remaining. Griffin then finished off an 11-0 Laker run with a 3-point basket at the 9:43 mark to give Clayton State a 75-33 lead.

Clayton State's largest lead of the game was 47 points, 84-37 on a 3-point basket by Dixon with 6:27 remaining.

Dixon paced a balanced Laker scoring attack with 14 points with four 3-point baskets off the bench. Senior Tanisha Woodard scored 12 points, followed by Griggs with 11 points and Kelly with 10 points. The Lakers got 48 points in production off the bench, the most this season.

In addition, junior center Shannon Smith grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds as Clayton State out-rebounded Chowan 47-36.

Talaya Lynch scored 10 points for Chowan.

Clayton State turns around on Saturday and plays host to Barton in a rematch of last season's second round NCAA Division II National Tournament game. Tip-off time is 1:30 p.m. at the Athletics and Fitness Center.