Full Game Video I Georgia's Own Postgame Interview

MORROW, Ga. – Needing a win to advance to the Peach Belt Conference Semifinals, Clayton State (22-5, 15-4 PBC) scored the last 10 points of the game to take down Francis Marion (21-8, 12-7 PBC) 75-66 in an NCAA Division II women's basketball game on Saturday, February 27.
 
Redshirt-junior guard Tweety Hawkins (Madison, Ga.) finished with a season-high 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting in 18 minutes to lead the Lakers while senior center DaQuenna Moore (Plantersville, S.C.) finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds. They were joined by senior guard Kenisha Jones-Barrett (Winter Haven, Fla.) with 12 points, five assists and two steals and redshirt-senior forward Jessica Covington (Tifton, Ga.) chipped in with nine points.
 
It would be a game of runs throughout the first quarter as FMU opened the game scoring 12 of the first 14 points. With the margin at 18-9 at the 2:52 mark, the Lakers would put together a 12-2 run of their own that spanned the quarter break and put them ahead 21-20 with 7:50 left in the half.
 
Eight straight points by the Patriots then made that a short lived lead as they went up 28-21 just over two minutes later. It would be the Lakers, however, that would finish with the biggest run of all. Over the final 5:28, they would mount a 15-2 run, fueled by five points each from Hawkins and Covington, to take a 36-30 lead into the break.
 
That lead would grow to seven, 40-33, early in the second half before FMU responded with a 7-2 run to get within two at 42-40 by the 5:49 mark. With the score at 48-45 just under four minutes, the Patriots scored four straight points to take a 49-48 lead at 3:03. That would ignite seven straight lead changes over the next 4:26, ending up with the Patriots holding a 56-55 lead just 1:37 into the fourth quarter.
 
A second straight bucket by Camille Dash stretched that lead to three, a margin they would continue to hold at 62-59. At that point three straight baskets by the Lakers would flip the script and give them a 65-62 advantage with 5:24 to play. With a bid to the PBC semifinals on the line, Francis Marion would not go away as Khayani Chandler and Dash had consecutive scores to take a 66-65 lead at the 2:25 mark.
 
Just 16 seconds later senior guard Kayla Pryce (Melbourne, Fla.) drilled a long three-pointer to take back the lead, 68-66, and start a 10-0 run that would spell the end for FMU as Clayton State salted away the 75-66 victory.
 
Alaysia Watts led the Patriots with 13 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals and Briana Burgins finished with 13 points and six boards. Chandler added 12 points and Dash chipped in with 10 points, five rebounds and three steals.
 
The Lakers now advance to the Peach Belt Conference Semifinals on Saturday, March 5. They will face Lander at 8:30 p.m. at a site yet to be determined. That venue will be either Columbus State or Clayton State pending the outcome of the Cougars game against Flagler at 2 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. A Flagler win will send the PBC Men's and Women's Basketball Final Four to Morrow, Georgia while a Columbus victory puts the entire field in Columbus, Georgia.
 
NOTES
The win is the first in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament under head coach Kaleena Coleman, and the first under anyone not named Dennis Cox since the 2001-02 season … the Lakers last earned a PBC Quarterfinal victory on March 6, 2014 when they defeated Lander 75-73 in Columbus, Ga.