MORROW, Ga. – A late fourth quarter comeback and a devastating second overtime period were too much for Clayton State (6-5, 2-1 PBC) to overcome as Augusta (6-5, 3-0 PBC) posted a 95-81 double overtime victory in NCAA Division II women's basketball game on Saturday, January 4.
 
Junior forward Timi'a Swanson (Americus, Ga.) flirted with a quadruple-double as she finished with 18 points, eight boards, seven assists and six steals in 42 minutes of action to pace the Lakers while senior guard Taneria Wilson (Fort Pierce, Fla.) came away with 20 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
 
Senior forward Kelsie Towns (Butler, Ga.) registered a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds and senior center Brittany Williams (Albany, Ga.) just missed one with nine points and 11 caroms. Redshirt-junior forward Dejah Montgomery (Cordova, Tenn.) was solid with seven points, five boards and a pair of steals while redshirt-junior guard Praise Russell (Jacksonville, Fla.) added 10 points. Junior forward Jada Francois Lubin (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) rounded things out with six points and four caroms.
 
It would be a back-and-forth affair over the first three-plus minutes as the teams would stay within four points of each other, ending up at 8-6 Augusta with 6:24 on the clock. From there the Jaguars Kiera Howard knocked down a triple to push to a five point advantage before Russell matched her to make it 11-9 at the 4:33 mark.
 
Back-to-back jumpers would stretch to a 15-9 margin for AU before the Lakers surged back with seven straight points behind four from Russell and three from Wilson to take a 16-15 lead with 41 seconds left in the opening frame.
 
A bucket by Howard would flip the script and make it 17-16 at the end of the quarter and fuel a 10-2 burst that put it at 25-18 by the 7:07 mark of the second period. That run would be snapped as four different scorers for Clayton State powered an 8-0 run that put them back ahead, this time 26-25 with 5:21 on the clock.
 
A layup by Boulin and a three from Howard would then turn the tables once again as they took a 30-26 advantage. It wouldn't last long, however, as the Lakers would put together a 9-3 run behind five points from Wilson to close the half with a 35-33 lead.
 
Including a free throw to end the first half, it would be all Clayton State at the beginning of the third quarter as they scored the first eight points for an overall run of 9-0 to push to a 43-33 lead by the 6:43 mark. It would then be the Jaguars turn to dominate offensively as they scored eight straight behind four different scorers to pull all the way to 43-41 with 4:52 remaining in the third.
 
Over the remainder of the quarter and the first six seconds of the fourth the Lakers would outscore AU 11-7 to stretch to a 54-48 margin before an 8-2 stretch knotted the score at 56-56 with 7:02 to play. Holding a narrow 61-60 advantage with just over five minutes left Clayton State got consecutive buckets from Wilson and Towns to go up 65-60 by the 3:32 mark.
 
That lead would grow to 70-62 with 1:26 on the clock before the Jaguars responded with a 6-1 burst to get within 71-68 with 34 seconds left. Down to five seconds and time running out, Augusta's Asia Howard delivered the game-tying three to send the game to overtime deadlocked at 71-71.
 
In that extra frame scoring would be at a premium and it would be the Jaguars that would strike first as Howard scored the first two points for a 73-71 lead just four seconds in. Montgomery would cut that deficit in half as she split a pair of free throws and Towns dropped in a runner from the right side for a 74-73 lead with just under two minutes to play.
 
Asia Harrison would knock down a pair of free throws to give Augusta back the lead, 75-74, at 1:18 but the Lakers' Brittany Williams would tie it up with 29 seconds on the clock to send the clubs to a second overtime. That session, however, would not be so kind to Clayton State as the Jaguars scored the first 14 points, half by Howard, to jump out to an 89-75 lead with 1:16 left. From there they would close out the 95-81 double overtime victory.
 
Howard erupted for a game-high 32 points on 11-of-17 shooting, six steals and three assists to pace Augusta while Harrison finished with 19 points. Kennedi Manning nearly had a triple-double the hard way as she compiled 10 points, 12 rebounds and an impressive seven blocks in 43 minutes of work. Boulin added eight points and seven caroms and Jaelyn Autman and Cameryn Wilson chipped in with 10 and eight apiece.
 
The Lakers are back in action as they hit the road to take on Young Harris on Wednesday, January 8. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m. in Young Harris, Georgia.

FULL GAME VIDEO