COLUMBUS, Ga. – No. 24 Clayton State (22-6, 15-4 PBC) found themselves down early in the first quarter in Peach Belt Conference Semifinal action and could not recover as Lander (24-6, 16-3 PBC) earned a 95-67 victory in an NCAA Division II women's basketball game on Saturday, March 5.
Senior guard
Kenisha Jones-Barrett (Winter Haven, Fla.) led the Lakers with 19 points, eight rebounds and a pair of steals and senior forward
Shay Upshaw (Tampa, Fla.) had 10 points, six boards and three assists in 30 minutes. Sophomore center
Aniefok Udofia (Stone Mountain, Ga.) rounded out the top performers with seven points and five rebounds.
The teams would battle through a pair of ties and see the lead change hands five times over the first 3:42 as Clayton State took a narrow 10-9 advantage. Over the next two minutes, it would be Lander that would step up and put together a 9-2 run to pull ahead at 18-12.
The Lakers would get it to within 20-17 by the 3:24 mark but it wouldn't stay there for long. In a span of 3:04, the Bearcats would erupt for a 15-2 run, behind seven points from Ashleigh Zandi and six from Mylea McKenith, that gave them a 35-19 lead as the opening quarter came to a close.
Trailing 41-23 at the 5:46 mark of the second, the Lakers used a mini 6-0 burst to cut it to a 12 point deficit just under two minutes later. Again, it wouldn't stay that way as Lander responded by closing the half with a 7-2 stretch to take a 48-31 margin into the break.
That lead would stretch to 66-35 over the first 6:21 of the second half and eventually grow to 75-43 by the end of the third. It would get only marginally better in the fourth quarter as Clayton State would outscore the Bearcats 24-20 to reach the final margin of 95-67.
Breshay Johnson led all scorers with 27 points on 11-of-14 shooting and made it a double-double with 12 boards, nine offensive, while McKenith finished with 19 points. Ty'Hesha Reynolds added 16 points and Zandi had 13 points and six boards. Peach Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year Bre Crum had 12 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals.
The Lakers will now await tomorrow night's NCAA Division II Tournament Selection Show at 10 p.m. Ranked No. 3 in the Southeast Region entering the Peach Belt Conference Tournament, they are assured of a spot in the field of eight teams that will almost certainly head to undefeated No. 3 Limestone in Gaffney, S.C. for the regional. The only thing left to be determined is where Clayton State will be seeded and who they will face.
