Clayton State’s Woodard selected Peach Belt Conference “Player of the Week” for women’s basketball

2012 Peach Belt Conference Tournament Website
AUGUSTA, Ga. – February 27, 2012 – The Peach Belt Conference released its last regular season weekly honors for women's basketball on Monday, and for the second time this season, Clayton State's Tanisha Woodard was selected as the Peach Belt Conference "Player of the Week."

Woodard, a 5-foot-10 senior forward from Rome, Ga., enjoyed a tremendous conclusion to the regular season in her two games last week. She scored nine points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the Lakers' 78-44 victory over Montevallo on Wednesday. But it was Clayton State's regular season finale against Georgia College on Saturday where Woodard had the spotlight.

First, she recorded four steals to set the Peach Belt Conference career record for steals with 408. That shattered the previous mark of 407 held by former Columbus State standout LaShawn Mincey from 1997-2001. And second, Woodard recorded only the third triple-double in the history of Peach Belt women's basketball with 13 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in the Lakers' 93-58 victory.

That helped pace Clayton State to its fifth Peach Belt Conference regular season championship in the last eight seasons.

For the season, Woodard is leading the Peach Belt in both steals and assists, and is also ranked fifth in blocked shots and seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio. In addition, she is ranked 10^th in the nation in steals.

Woodard also moved into second place all-time at Clayton State in points. She now has 1,324 points for her Laker career.

LAKERS DRAW AUGUSTA STATE IN PBC TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS: The 2012 Peach Belt Conference Tournament begins on Thursday, and the No. 4-ranked Clayton State Lakers (26-2, 16-1 PBC) play the opening game of the quarterfinal round at 1 p.m. against Augusta State (12-14, 7-11 PBC). All tournament action will be at the Lumpkin Center at Columbus State.

This marks the fourth time that Clayton State and Augusta State have squared off in the Peach Belt Tournament, but the first time since 2006. The two teams squared off once during the regular season, and the Lakers rolled to an 85-47 rout at the Athletics and Fitness Center on Jan. 14.

Should Clayton State prevail, the Lakers would play the winner of Lander-UNC Pembroke in the semifinals on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Peach Belt Tournament championship game will be on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Lumpkin Center.