MORROW, Ga. – Redshirt-senior center Andrea Benford (Madison, Ga.) had the best game of her career as she led Clayton State (4-1, 0-0 PBC) to a 91-62 rout of Paine (2-2, 0-0 SIAC) in an NCAA Division II women's basketball game on Wednesday, November 23. The meeting was the first between the two programs.
 
Benford flirted with a quadruple-double as she finished with a career-high 25 points along with 13 rebounds, six offensive, and career-high tying marks of five steals and five blocks. She was joined by junior guard Monica Alexander (North Chesterfield, Va.), who had her best game as a Laker with 19 points, four assists, four boards and a pair of steals.
 
Not far behind was redshirt-senior guard Tierra Johnson (Edison, N.J.) with 16 points, five assists, three steals and four rebounds in 29 minutes. Junior forward Abreyln Rackley (St. Louis, Mo.) added seven points, eight rebounds and three steals and junior guard Jimecheia Banks (Phenix, City, Ala.) had seven points and four assists to round out the top performers.
 
The Lions would put up a fight in the first quarter as they stayed within eight points and even closed the gap to 16-12 with 47 seconds left. From that point, however, it would be all Clayton State as they erupted for a 31-13 run to close the half with a commanding 47-25 advantage.
 
It would get no better for Paine in the second half as the Lakers continued to pound away. Over the first 15:18 of the frame they would extend to a game-high 34 point margin with an 84-50 lead. The Lions stopped their deficit from getting any larger but could do nothing to prevent the eventual 91-62 final margin.
 
Janisha Wilkerson delivered an impressive game, pacing the Lions with 12 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and a pair of blocks while Aaliyiha Wright had 13 points and five caroms. Tierra Boykin finished with eight points and seven boards while Simira Huggins and Kayla Lewis had 10 and eight points, respectively.
 
The Lakers head to No. 12 Union (Tenn.) for a showdown with one of the top teams in the country on Saturday, November 26. Game time is set for 3 p.m. (EST) in Jackson, Tenn. in what will be the third all-time meeting.
 
NOTES
Benford surpassed her previous career-high in scoring, eclipsing the 24 points she scored vs. Montevallo on February 5, 2014 … she also tied her career-high in blocks (twice, vs. Lander on 12/17/15 and 1/25/14 vs. North Georgia) and steals (twice, vs. Georgia Southwestern on 2/6/16 and 2/22/14).