ANDERSON, S.C. – Facing one of the best teams in the country, Clayton State (1-1, 0-0 PBC) could not get over the hump in the second half as No. 13 Anderson (2-0, 0-0 SAC) held on for a 68-61 victory in an NCAA Division II women's basketball game on Saturday, November 9.
 
Senior guard Taneria Wilson (Fort Pierce, Fla.) delivered another impressive performance as she finished with 19 points, six boards and four steals while redshirt-junior forward Dejah Montgomery (Cordova, Tenn.) had 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting to go with four caroms.
 
Redshirt-senior guard Christal Williams (Riverdale, Ga.) came away with 11 points and five steals and junior forward Jada Francois Lubin (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) added seven points, two steals and a pair of blocks to round out the top performers.
 
The Trojans would waste little time in jumping out to an 11-4 lead by the 3:23 mark of the first quarter and held a 17-12 advantage after the opening 10 minutes. Clayton State would close to within three on three separate occasions, the last at 19-16 with 6:36 left in the half before pulling to 24-23 at the 1:54 mark. They would stay within one point, 26-25, with just over a minute left before AU closed with a 5-0 burst for a 31-25 lead at the break.
 
That would extend to an overall run of seven straight with a bucket to begin the second half that would extend their lead to an eight point margin. With the score at 40-32 just under six minutes left in the third, the Lakers would mount a 9-0 run fueled by five points from Wilson that flipped the script and put them ahead 41-40 at the 3:19 mark.
 
It would be short lived however as Anderson regained the lead on the next possession and closed the period with a narrow 46-44 lead. A pair of free throws by redshirt-junior forward Dejah Montgomery (Cordova, Tenn.) then knotted it up 34 seconds into the final frame but once again the Trojans would pull away, this time to 55-48 with 7:18 on the clock.
 
After clawing back to within four twice, back-to-back triples by Alexy Mollenhauer extended to a 63-53 advantage with 3:40 left. A mini 4-0 run by Christal Williams helped stem the tide and pull Clayton State back to a four point margin, 65-61, at the 1:39 mark but three free throws down the stretch would salt away the 68-61 victory for Anderson.
 
Mollenhauer led all scorers with 24 points and added nine boards to pace Anderson. She was joined by Madison Baggett with eight points, six rebounds, three steals and three assists and Jalyn Spurlin with seven points and four caroms. Alexis Tate finished with six points and four rebounds and Amari Grevious added six points.
 
In their only break from Tournament play until December, the Lakers will travel to Tusculum on Tuesday, November 12. Game time is set for 6 p.m. in Greenville, Tennessee.