GREENWOOD, S.C. – In their first action of 2017, No. 23 Clayton State (9-3, 1-2 PBC) could not overcome a massive first quarter run that put defending Peach Belt Conference Tournament Champion Lander (8-3, 2-1 PBC) out in front early in a 92-71 decision in an NCAA Division II women's basketball game on Wednesday, January 4.
 
Redshirt-senior forward Ashley Cunningham (Douglasville, Ga.) led the way with a team-high 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting while redshirt-senior guard Tierra Johnson (Edison, N.J.) finished with 15 points, four rebounds and three assists.
 
Junior guard Monica Alexander (Richmond, Va.) added 13 points and six rebounds and senior center Rayven Thomas (North Las Vegas, Nev.) had five points and a team-best eight boards. Junior guard Jimecheia Banks (Phenix, City, Ala.) chipped in with eight points to round out the top performers.
 
The Bearcats would capitalize on six early turnovers as they raced out to a commanding 26-5 lead by the 1:39 mark. After absorbing the shock of that daunting start, Clayton State responded with three straight buckets to close the quarter at 26-11.
 
That sudden offensive outburst would continue at the start of the second quarter as the Lakers extended to a 9-0 run to cut it to a 12 point deficit. That margin would be short lived, however, as LU answered with back-to-back triples to push out to a 32-14 advantage with 8:16 on the clock.
 
From there Clayton State came back with a 19-11 run to pull to within 43-33 with 42 seconds left in the half before a three by Ty'Hesha Reynolds at the buzzer gave the Bearcats a 13 point lead at the break.
 
With the score at 49-36 just 2:35 into the second half, Lander would use a 17-6 run to extend to a 24 point margin, 66-42, by the 3:17 mark. That stretch would put the game out of reach as they eventually pushed to a 78-51 advantage in the first minute of the fourth quarter before closing out the 92-71 victory.
 
Reynolds went for 41 points on 15-of-27 shooting, along with four boards, three assists and three steals, to lead the Bearcats while Breshay Johnson had 18 points and 12 rebounds. Mylea McKenith added 13 points, five rebounds and three steals to round out LU's top performers.
 
The Lakers stay in the State of South Carolina for their second game of the trip when they face defending Southeast Region Champion Francis Marion on Saturday, January 7. Game time is set for 1:30 p.m. in Florence, South Carolina.