SAVANNAH, Ga. – In their final game of the opening weekend, Clayton State (2-0, 0-0 PBC) used a high scoring offense to outpace Lynn (0-2, 0-0 SSC) 83-72 in an NCAA women's basketball game on Saturday, November 14.
 
Redshirt-junior center Andrea Benford (Madison, Ga.) led all scorers with 20 points and added seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and a pair of blocks in 24 minutes of action while senior center DaQuenna Moore (Plantersville, Ga.) produced 13 points and seven rebounds.
 
Senior forward Shay Upshaw (Tampa, Fla.) and senior guard Kenisha Jones-Barrett (Winter Haven, Fla.) joined them in double-figures, finishing with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Redshirt-junior guard Tierra Johnson (Edison, N.J.) added nine points and a team-high five assists to round out the top performers.
 
The teams were evenly matched over the first 7:51 as the largest lead by either club was just five points, that being an 18-13 Laker advantage at 2:09. That would change at the 1:28 mark as five quick points pushed the margin to 23-15.
 
Following four straight points by the Fighting Knights to cut the deficit in half with 40 seconds left in the first quarter, Clayton State stepped up at both ends of the floor. Over the first 6:22 of the second quarter they put together a 16-9 run to extend to a 40-28 margin before taking a 46-35 lead into the break.
 
Lynn would get the deficit down to eight on a pair of occasions early in the third period but the Lakers would allow nothing further. Over a span of nearly six minutes they put together an 18-7 run that saw their lead balloon from eight to a game-high 19 points at 69-50 with 44 seconds left in the quarter.
 
A 5-1 stretch by LU got them back to within 15 in the opening moments of the fourth but any thoughts of a comeback would be short lived as Clayton State stretched the lead back to near 20 points at 76-57 with less than two minutes gone by. From there, they would wrap up the 83-72 victory to move to 2-0 on the season.
 
Zachara Bailey led the way for the Fighting Knights with 17 points and six rebounds while Tifani Kerrison had 16 points and a pair of steals. Mahogany Hall added six points and seven boards, five on the offensive end, and Shattoria Baker finished with three points and game-highs of six assists and four steals. Charla Nelson-James chipped in with 10 points and five rebounds to close out Lynn's top performers.
 
The Lakers return to action on Friday, November 20 with a special 11 a.m. tip-off at The Loch. That day they will host West Georgia and welcome more than 1,000 Clayton County middle school students in recognition of their tremendous academic achievement.
 
NOTES
The 2-0 start marks the seventh straight season the Lakers have accomplished that feat, dating back to the 2009-10 season … it is also the 10^th time in the past 11 seasons.