MORROW, Ga. – A late fourth quarter rally and several strong individual performances were not enough as Clayton State (4-4, 0-0 PBC) fell to Lander (5-3, 0-0 PBC) by an 89-81 score in an NCAA Division II women's basketball game on Saturday, December 14.
 
Junior forward Timi'a Swanson (Americus, Ga.) dropped 18 points and tied her career-highs with seven boards and five steals while resetting her personal best with three assists to lead the Lakers. She was joined by senior guard Taneria Wilson (Fort Pierce, Fla.) with 16 points, a career-best eight assists, five carom and a pair of steals.
 
Joining the party was junior forward Jada Francois Lubin (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) with a career-high 16 points to go with a pair of blocks, two steals and four rebounds in 20 minutes of work. Redshirt-senior forward Jhade Hayes (Land O'Lakes, Fla.) added 11 points and senior forward Kelsie Towns (Butler, Ga.) had nine to round out the top performers.
 
The Bearcats would score the first six points and proceed to claim a 10-5 lead at the 6:17 mark before Clayton State tightened it up to 16-14 two minutes later. Having seen their lead narrowed to 18-17 with 2:39 left in the opening frame, LU's Tabitha Dailey and Zamiya Passmore each had five points to fuel a 10-0 run and make it 28-17 with just under a minute left. A bucket by Francois Lubin would then make it a nine point margin heading to the second quarter.
 
That period would see Lander add to their lead as they extended to a 34-23 advantage just over two minutes in before the Lakers rallied to within 37-29 by the 4:49 mark. From there, however, the Bearcats would put together a 10-4 run to close the half and head to the break with a commanding 47-33 lead.
 
The third quarter would be no better for Clayton State as LU pushed to a 55-38 margin over the first 4:12 before an 11-6 stretch cut it to 12 points, 61-49, with 3:21 on the clock. At that point Jessica Harris would power a 13-1 run with her five points in that stretch to blow it open at 74-50 by the 9:27 mark of the fourth.
 
With the score at 80-63 with 3:37 remaining the Lakers finally found their offense and combined it with their well known pressure defense to force three straight turnovers at the end of a 12-2 run. That burst pulled them within seven points, 82-75, and took it down to the 1:34 mark. From there, however, it would be nearly event as Lander took seven of the final 13 points to hold on for the 89-81 victory.
 
Dailey led the Bearcats with game-highs 24 points and 11 rebounds, five of which were offensive, while Passmore finished with 20 points, seven assists and seven caroms. Harris came away with 12 points, four boards and four assists and Amiaya Melvins had 13 points and six rebounds. Sarah Crews capped off the top performances with eight points and five caroms.
 
The Lakers are back in action on Thursday, December 19 when they head to UNC Pembroke for a 1 p.m. matinee as the second game of a doubleheader. As part of UNCP's Education Day they will follow the men's 11 a.m. game in Pembroke, North Carolina.
 
NOTES
While both Lander and Clayton State are longtime members of the Peach Belt Conference, the game was a non-conference affair … due to new league scheduling, the teams will only meet once in PBC play and opted for add another game against each other on the non-conference side of things.
 
FULL GAME VIDEO


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