SAVANNAH, Ga. – In their season opener Clayton State (1-0, 0-0 PBC) showed little rust as they pushed past Palm Beach Atlantic (0-1) for an 85-61 victory in an NCAA Division II women's basketball game on Friday, November 13. The game was also the first of the Second Annual B.J. Ford Classic at Armstrong State.
 
Redshirt-junior guard Tweety Hawkins (Madison, Ga.) led all scorers with 15 points, going 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, while redshirt-junior forward Ashley Cunningham (Douglasville, Ga.) finished with 11 points, three steals and three boards. Senior center DaQuenna Moore (Plantersville, Ga.) added 10 points and senior forward Shay Upshaw (Tampa, Fla.) nearly had a double with nine points and seven rebounds to go along with a pair of steals.
 
Holding a slim 12-8 lead with 2:26 to play in the first quarter, the Lakers launched a 12-2 run, fueled by five different scorers, over the next three minutes. That stretch extended their lead to an impressive 24-10 just four seconds into the second quarter.
 
PBA would close to within nine at 24-15 just under three minutes in before Clayton State put together another run, this time 10-3, to push out to a 34-18 advantage by the 4:10 mark. Following back-to-back baskets by Ayanna Holmes that cut it to a 12-point margin, the Lakers would go on to close the half with an 11-4 run, capped by a Hawkins three-pointer, to take a 43-26 lead into the break.
 
The Sailfish would regroup coming out of the half as they surged back with a 13-5 run to close to within 48-39 with just 3:36 gone by. They would eventually get it to five points at 52-47 before Clayton State responded with a 5-0 burst, highlighted by a triple from junior guard Alexus Hynes (Houston, Texas).
 
Having expanded the lead back to eight points at 59-51, the Lakers were done playing games with PBA and used a massive 26-8 run over the next 9:57 to blow the game open and take an 85-59 lead with 2:34 to play. From there they coasted to an 85-61 season-opening victory.
 
Hannah Grim led the Sailfish with 11 points and game-highs of three assists and five steals. She was joined by Darsan Deshazier and Nkiru Anyagaligbo with 10 points apiece. Holmes added eight points, and three seven boards while Nina Krstic had eight points and four caroms to round out the top performers.
 
The Lakers wrap up the opening weekend when they take on Lynn in the second game of the Second Annual B.J. Ford Classic on Saturday, November 14. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. in Savannah, Georgia.
 
NOTES
Clayton State led wire-to-wire, surging out to a 26-point margin with 2:40 to play … of their 85 points, an impressive 52 came from off of the bench.