YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – A 12-3 run and solid late game defense in the fourth quarter helped fuel a 64-61 victory as Clayton State (7-4, 3-2 PBC) fought past a feisty Young Harris (3-10, 1-6 PBC) squad in an NCAA Division II women's basketball game on Wednesday, January 9.
 
Senior forward Velencia Johnson (Hoover, Ala.) delivered one of the better games of her career, putting up 19 points and yanking down nine boards, seven of which were offensive, to go with a pair of assists to lead the Lakers. She was joined by junior guard Taneria Wilson (Fort Pierce, Fla.) who flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 10 points and career-highs of 10 boards and five assists in 39 minutes of action.
 
Senior center Aleisha Merriweather (Augusta, Ga.) notched 18 points, nine caroms and a key block while redshirt-junior guard Madison Newby (Lawrenceville, Ga.) added five points, a career-high tying four steals and six rebounds. Sophomore guard Tatiana Foster (Atlanta, Ga.) rounded out the top performers with four points, five assists and a pair of steals.
 
Following a free throw by Clayton State, the Mountain Lions would take the early lead at 8-5 and extend to a 17-11 margin by the end of the opening frame. After not trailing by more than four points until the very end of the first quarter, the Lakers would get a three-point play from Johnson to cut it to 17-16 by the 8:59 mark.
 
Following three minutes where neither club could put anything through the hoop, YHC responded with a three from Avery Jordan to push back to a four point margin and eventually pushed to 25-20 with 3:56 left in the half. That would be cut to a two point deficit with under two minutes left in the half but a bucket and a pair of free throws for the Mountain Lions would make it a 29-23 margin at the break.
 
Trailing 33-30 at the 7:07 mark of the third period, Clayton State flipped a switch and produced an impressive 9-0 run over a span of 2:15 to pull ahead 39-35 with 4:32 on the clock. Young Harris would end that stretch with a three by Rachel Dobbs and a layup by Jordan that brought them back the lead at 40-39 two minutes later.
 
That slim advantage would not last long as a 9-2 run to close the quarter, one that was capped by a three from Wilson, made it 48-42 Lakers heading to the fourth. Back-to-back buckets by Elle Hutchinson to start the final 10 minutes quickly cut it to two but the Lakers would answer with a 12-3 run, fueled by five points from Johnson, to extend to a 60-49 margin by the 4:49 mark.
 
YHC would not go away, however, as they came back with five straight points to pull to within 60-54 but surrendered three more points to fall back behind by nine with 3:10 to play. Sarah Woghiren would then knock down a triple and Sarah Reid followed with a conventional three-point play to cut it to 63-60 at the 2:05 mark.
 
It would stay that way for the next nearly two minutes until the Mountain Lions' Pamela Diokpara converted on 1-of-2 from the foul line with nine seconds left to make it 63-61. Following a foul to extend the game, Merriweather matched that performance at the line and then proceeded to block YHC's three-point heave at the other end to lock down the 64-61 victory.
 
Diokpara led the Mountain Lions with a double-double of 11 points and 11 boards to go with three steals while Reid had seven points and as many rebounds. Hutchinson added eight points and a game-high tying five assists and Woghiren and Jordan each delivered 10 points.
 
Having wrapped up their brief two-game road trip to being 2019, the Lakers return home to face Francis Marion on Saturday, January 12. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m. at The Loch.