MORROW, Ga. – In their final action of the 2017 part of the schedule, Clayton State (5-5, 2-2 PBC) powered past Augusta (3-5, 1-3 PBC) to earn a 62-52 victory in an NCAA Division II women's basketball game on Saturday, December 30.
 
Redshirt-junior center Shaquoria Miles (Garysburg, N.C.) hauled in a career-best 13 boards, five offensive, to go along with six points while junior forward Abreyln Rackley (St. Louis, Mo.) finished with 12 points, seven caroms and a pair of steals.
 
They were joined by junior center Aleisha Merriweather (Augusta, Ga.) with 10 and seven boards and freshman guard Tatiana Foster (Atlanta, Ga.) with five points, four steals, four assists and four boards. Junior forward Velencia Johnson (Hoover, Ala.) added seven points and six boards and junior guard Aysia Grimsley (Marietta, Ga.) chipped in eight points to round things out.
 
After seeing the Jaguars take an early 6-3 lead, Clayton State put together a 13-5 run to pull ahead 16-8 with just over a minute left in the frame. They would close with a six point advantage, 16-10, before seeing that margin cut to four in the opening minute of the second period.
 
The Lakers would respond by scoring 11 of the next 13 points to extend to a 27-14 lead by the 5:42 mark. It would be Augusta's turn the rest of the half, however, as they used a 10-2 stretch to cut the deficit to 29-24 at the break.
 
That rally would continue at the start of the second half, stretching to an overall run of 14-2 and closing to 29-28 with 8:40 on the clock. Clayton State would staunch the bleeding with a 7-1 burst to make it 36-29 by the 3:01 mark.
 
It would continue to be a game of runs as the Jaguars scored six straight to cut it to one before a 12-5 run pushed the Lakers lead to 48-40 with 6:46 to play. A three at the other end would make it a five point game but a 7-2 burst by Clayton State would extend to a 55-45 lead by the 2:52 mark. That would be all they would need as they would go on to salt away the 62-52 victory to close out 2017.
 
Brianna Middleton led Augusta with a game-high 16 points along with eight boards while Ashleigh Outler had 12 points and a pair of steals. Joshlyn Belcher added nine points, five assists and two steals and Cynara Pitt chipped in with eight caroms and five points.
 
The Lakers continue a brief two game homestand on Wednesday, January 3 when they host Young Harris. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m.