MORROW, Ga. – In a game that would see them hold a double-digit lead entering the second half, Clayton State (1-0, 0-0 PBC) held off a fierce comeback, pulling off a thrilling 67-66 victory with a steal and fastbreak bucket in the final seconds to down Anderson in an NCAA Division II women's basketball game on Friday, November 9.
 
Redshirt-junior guard Madison Newby (Lawrenceville, Ga.) burst onto the DII scene with 20 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the foul line to go along with three assists while redshirt-senior guard Monica Alexander (Richmond, Va.) made her return with 14 points behind four clutch threes to lead the Lakers.
 
Junior guard Taneria Wilson (Fort Pierce, Fla.) finished with nine points, two assists and a pair of steals in just 20 minutes of work and senior center Aleisha Merriweather (Augusta, Ga.) added five points and team-highs of six boards and four steals. Senior forward Velencia Johnson (Hoover, Ala.) rounded things out with seven points.
 
Clayton State would come out of the gate on fire as they scored the first seven points on their way to a 16-5 lead by the 3:13 mark of the first quarter. Following a couple of buckets that cut the lead to seven, that margin would grow to 19 points, 35-16, behind a 16-5 run in a span of 5:59.
 
From there, however, it would be all Anderson until deep into the third quarter. After closing to within 40-27 at the break they scored 14 straight points over the first 5:16 of the third, taking a 41-40 lead on a free throw by Ace Easter. The script would flip quickly though as Alexander bookended a 16-10 stretch with a pair of threes, giving the Lakers back the lead, 56-51, with 6:28 to play in the game.
 
A perennial NCAA Tournament team, the Trojans weren't done as they rallied to tie it 57-57 by the 4:30 mark. After a driving basket by Newby broke the deadlock, AU scored five straight on a layup by Amari Grevious and a triple by Easter to take a 62-59 lead, their largest of the game, with 2:54 to play.
 
At that point Newby took over as she scored six straight points on 3-of-4 shooting at the line and capped a 65-62 lead with an old fashioned three-point play at the 1:47 mark. Back-to-back buckets by Alexis Tate and Easter then gave Anderson a narrow 66-65 lead with just over a minute to play.
 
Clayton State couldn't convert on a jumper at the other end after running the clock down and AU was content to run it some more on their next possession. With eight seconds to go Madison Baggett had the ball out at center court and the shot clock almost in sync with the game clock.
 
With time winding down Wilson then picked her clean and took it the other way for the go-ahead layup. With 4.6 seconds left, the Trojans still had a legitimate chance, especially after advancing the ball to the front court off a timeout. That chance would evaporate as they didn't get a shot off and the Lakers defense locked up an incredible 67-66 victory.
 
Alexy Mollenhauer delivered an impressive performance for AU as she finished with 24 points, 12 boards, two assists and a pair of steals in 39 minutes. She was joined by Tate with a near double-double of eight points and nine caroms and Baggett with 12 rebounds, five assists and five points. Easter chipped in with nine points, five boards and four assists.
 
The Lakers are back in action tomorrow, Saturday, November 10, when they host No. 21 Wingate. Game time is set for 4 p.m.
 
NOTES
The game was the second of the 2018 SAC/PBC Challenge featuring Clayton State, Anderson, Wingate and Georgia College.