MORROW, Ga. – In a game that closely resembled a contest from the pre-shot clock era, Clayton State (21-5, 13-4 PBC) grinded out a 50-46 victory Young Harris (8-15, 4-12 PBC) in an NCAA Division II women's basketball game on Wednesday, February 15.
 
Senior guard Dejoun Dennard (Tampa, Fla.) dropped a career-high 16 points with five rebounds and a pair of steals while redshirt-senior center Andrea Benford (Madison, Ga.) finished with six points and six boards. Redshirt-sophomore guard Donivan Dyson (Columbus, Ga.) added nine points and junior guard Jimecheia Banks (Phenix, City, Ala.) contributed seven.
 
Clayton State would jump out to an early 7-2 lead before six straight points by the Mountain Lions gave them an 8-7 advantage at the 4:59 mark. That would be the first of eight consecutive lead changes that left the Lakers with a narrow 15-14 lead with 15 seconds left in the opening frame. A steal on the inbound and quick jumper then gave them a three point lead entering the second.
 
A three by Meredith Tarver keyed a 9-0 burst to open that period and gave YHC a 23-17 lead before Clayton State responded with an 8-2 stretch that included back-to-back triples to knot it at 25-25 with 1:12 on the clock. The Mountain Lions would then get a layup with 10 seconds left to take a two point lead into the break.
 
YHC would extend to a four point margin by the 7:39 mark before it would be both teams that would go ice cold. Neither team would score over the next 4:26 and it would only be two points by the Mountain Lions when that drought came to an end at 3:13.
 
The Lakers would finally take the lid off of the bucket and end a scoreless streak of 8:15 when Dennard drained a three to cut it to a three point deficit. That would be half of their points in the quarter as Young Harris finished the frame with a 36-31 lead.
 
Clayton State would come out firing to start the fourth as Dyson nailed a three to pull them within two and ignite an 11-3 run that gave them back the lead, 42-39, by the 6:17 mark. Sara Jorgensen ended that stretch with a three of her own to tie it up just under two minutes later and the teams would trade layups to remain deadlocked, this time at 44-44.
 
A layup by Banks and two free throws from Benford on the next two possessions then put the Lakers back ahead 48-44 with 16 seconds left. YHC would pull to within two off of a pair of free throws at the 10 second mark but watch their chances for an upset fall by the wayside as redshirt-senior guard Tweety Hawkins (Madison, Ga.) sunk two free throws with nine seconds left to salt away the narrow 50-46 victory.
 
Jenny Vernet led YHC with 18 points, eight rebounds and three assists while Meredith Tarver finished with 14 points, 11 boards and three steals. Jorgensen rounded things out with six points, five rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.
 
The Lakers make one more regular season road trip as they head to Georgia College on Saturday, February 18. Game time is set for a special 3:30 p.m. start in Milledgeville, Ga.

NOTES
With the win, and by virtue of their season sweep over North Georgia, Clayton State has secured the No. 2 seed out of the Peach Belt Conference West Division ... they will host the No. 3 seed from the East Division on Saturday, February 25 ... likely opponents for that game are UNC Pembroke and Francis Marion, both of whom are currently 10-7 and face each other in their regular season finale.