FLORENCE, S.C. – Trailing by eight midway through the third quarter, No. 23 Clayton State (10-3, 2-2 PBC) rallied to knock off defending Southeast Region Champion Francis Marion (7-6, 2-2 PBC) by a 72-69 score in an NCAA Division II women's basketball game on Saturday, January 7.
 
Redshirt-senior guard Tierra Johnson (Edison, N.J.) led the way with 21 points, six steals and five assists while junior forward Abreyln Rackley (St. Louis, Mo.) scored a career-high 17 points along with 13 rebounds to post her fourth double-double of the season.
 
Redshirt-senior guard Tweety Hawkins (Madison, Ga.) finished with 12 points and senior center Rayven Thomas (North Las Vegas, Nev.) and senior guard Dejoun Dennard (Tampa, Fla.) each added six points and seven rebounds to round out the top performers.
 
FMU jumped out to the early lead, taking a 15-6 advantage over the first 5:29 before back-to-back layups cut the deficit to five. The Patriots would rebuild their lead to 25-16 by the first minute of the second quarter but that margin would not last long as Clayton State answered with a 9-0 run to deadlock it at 25-25 by the 7:34 mark.
 
Francis Marion would retake the lead within the next 30 seconds and hold onto for the remainder of the half. That Laker run, however, got them back in the game as they trailed by no more than four points before heading to the break trailing 42-39.
 
Two quick layups by Johnson out of the break gave Clayton State a 43-42 lead but it would be short lived as FMU responded by scoring 11 of the next 13 points to pull back ahead at 53-45 with 4:58 to go in the third quarter.
 
The Lakers would eventually cut the margin to 58-52 entering the fourth quarter, keeping them just within striking distance. And strike they did as Johnson scored seven points to fuel a 13-3 run that flipped the script and left them with a 65-61 lead with 3:44 to play.
 
FMU would answer with a 6-0 run of their own to grab a 67-65 advantage but would be unable to hold it as consecutive layups and a pair of free throws returned the lead to Clayton State, 71-67, with 31 seconds to play. They would then go on to salt away the 72-69 come-from-behind victory to earn their 10^th victory of the season.
 
Shaunice Fulmore led the Patriots with 21 points, nine rebounds and a pair of steals while Briana Burgins finished with 19 points and nine boards. Kristin Tines pulled down 11 caroms with five points and Tete Flowers chipped in with seven points and eight boards. Keanua Willams rounded out FMU's top performers with eight points, five rebounds and four steals.
 
The Lakers return home to take on Augusta in PBC action on Monday, January 9. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m. at The Loch.
 
NOTES
Clayton State has now won 13 straight games against FMU dating back to February 28, 2009 … they lead the all-time series 22-12.