ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – No. 22 Clayton State (14-1, 8-0 PBC) had to work to earn their 11^th straight win as they survived a battle at Flagler (7-8, 2-6 PBC) to come away with a 70-58 victory in an NCAA Division II women's basketball game on Saturday, January 16.
 
Senior center DaQuenna Moore (Plantersville, S.C.) delivered an impressive double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds, with six off of the offensive glass, in 25 minutes of work to lead the way. She would be joined by senior guard Kayla Pryce (Melbourne, Fla.) with 11 points, four boards and a pair of assists.
 
Senior guard Kenisha Jones-Barrett (Winter Haven, Fla.) posted a solid all-around performance with eight points, five rebounds, a game-high six assists and three steals and redshirt-junior guard Tierra Johnson (Edison, N.J.) had nine points, three boards and two assists. Redshirt-junior guard Tweety Hawkins (Madison, Ga.) rounded out the top outings with eight points in 16 minutes.
 
The teams would be evenly matched over the first 6:55 as they deadlocked three times and saw the lead change hands twice before the Lakers took a 13-8 lead. That margin would expand to 17-12 with under a minute left before closing the frame with a 17-14 advantage.
 
A pair of threes in the opening minutes of the second would stretch the lead to 25-19 before the Saints charged back with a 7-2 stretch to even it at 27-27 by the 2:46 mark. From there, the teams Lakers would score six of the next eight points to retake the lead and head to the half with a 33-29 margin.
 
FC opened the third quarter with back-to-back buckets to tie it up before Clayton State delivered three straight baskets to pull back ahead at 39-33 by the 7:24 mark. It would be a back-and-forth affair as the Saints came right back with a 5-0 run to cut it to one.
 
An 8-4 stretch by the Lakers expanded the lead to 47-42 with 1:45 on the clock but Flagler closed the third with an 8-0 run to take a 50-47 margin into the fourth. With the score at 52-49, a bucket by Moore and a triple by Hawkins fueled a 5-0 burst that flipped the script and gave Clayton State back the lead at 54-52 with 8:12 on the clock.
 
Following a tying layup by Elise Spann, both teams would go scoreless for more than a minute and a half before Moore grabbed a board and put it back in for a 56-54 advantage at the 6:11 mark. Flagler's Litisha Speights would tie the game with a layup at the 4:30 mark but that would be just about all they would get.
 
Over the next 4:05, the Lakers would string together a game-deciding 12-0 run, with a huge three by Pryce, to push to a 68-56 lead with 25 seconds left. The Saints would put in one last bucket to snap that streak with 19 seconds remaining before Clayton State escaped with the 12 point victory.
 
Speights led the upset bid for Flagler as she finished with 15 points and six rebounds while Teosha Ray added 14 points with three boards and three steals. DeAsha Campbell chipped in with nine points and five rebounds and Spann contributed seven points and a team-high nine caroms.
 
The Lakers return to action on Monday, January 18 when they host UNC Pembroke. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m. at The Loch.