MORROW, Ga. – With the opportunity to put a tighter grip on the Peach Belt Conference West Division, No. 13/No. 22 Clayton State (16-1, 10-0 PBC) took full advantage as they battled back-and-forth with North Georgia (12-7, 4-6 PBC) to earn a hard-fought 68-62 victory in an NCAA Division II women's basketball game on Sunday, January 24.
 
Senior center DaQuenna Moore (Plantersville, S.C.) put forth a gutty effort as she finished with 13 points, 12 rebounds and four steals in 33 minutes of work while redshirt-junior center Andrea Benford (Madison, Ga.) finished with seven points, six rebounds and three steals.
 
They were joined by junior guard Dejoun Dennard (Seffner, Fla.) with seven points and a game-high six assists and senior guard Kayla Pryce (Melbourne, Fla.) added 14 points and three assists in 20 minutes. Redshirt-junior guard Tierra Johnson (Edison, N.J.) rounded out the top performers with 11 points and three assists.
 
Clayton State would waste no time as they jumped out to an 11-4 advantage over the first 5:20 before the Nighthawks answered with an 8-2 stretch to cut it to 13-12 at the 1:20 mark. They would eventually tie the game at 15-15 before Pryce nailed a long three to end the quarter with the Lakers up 18-15.
 
After UNG knotted the score at 22-22 by the 6:40 mark of the second, Clayton State responded with a 11-1 run over the next 4:03 to retake the lead at 33-22. Undaunted, North Georgia would once again storm back as they closed the half with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 33-30 by the break.
 
In what would turn into a game of runs, the Lakers extended to a 37-30 margin before the Nighthawks came right back, this time scoring 10 of the next 11 points to take a 40-38 lead by the 6:43 mark. That advantage wouldn't last long as it was Clayton State's turn to answer, doing so with a 12-2 burst to make it 50-40 with 3:01 left in the third.
 
From there, they would close the period with a 53-44 margin but see UNG cut it to seven early in the frame. Following the lead growing back to double-digits at 56-46 by the 7:38 mark, the Nighthawks would put together a 7-0 stretch behind five points from Jordan Livesay, slicing the deficit all the way down to 56-53.
 
The teams would exchange buckets and stay within five points of each other and eventually ended up with the Lakers leading 61-58 with 1:19 to play. That would be as close as North Georgia would get, however, as Clayton State would convert on 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to salt away the 68-62 victory.
 
Kelsey Hutchins led the Nighthawks with a game-high 21 points and six rebounds while Cierra Jackson finished with a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds in 36 minutes. Livesay added 12 points five rebounds, four steals and three assists and Lauren Pounds had eight points and four caroms.
 
The Lakers begin a three-game road swing when they head to Georgia Southwestern on Wednesday, January 27. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. in Americus, Georgia.
 
NOTES
The Lakers took advantage of a loss by second place No. 23 Columbus State to pull ahead by three games in the loss column in the Peach Belt Conference West Division … the Cougars fell 55-51 at Young Harris earlier on Sunday.