COLUMBUS, Ga. – Senior guard Taneria Wilson (Fort Pierce, Fla.) broke the 15-year old program single game scoring record and Clayton State (16-9, 12-5 PBC) survived rival Columbus State (16-7, 11-6 PBC) by a 77-72 margin in an NCAA Division II women's basketball game on Wednesday, February 19.
 
Wilson played every minute and made each count as she surpassed the single game mark with 36 points, going 12-of-23 from the field and 9-of-10 at the foul line. Add to that, she yanked down a career-high tying 10 boards to go with three assists and three steals.
 
Having put up 34 in a game earlier this season at Francis Marion (1/18), she finally caught Jasmine Patterson's mark of 35 points that was set on March 6, 2005 – also against Columbus State and in the Lakers first ever Peach Belt Conference Championship victory. In that game, Patterson went 13-of-28 and 7-of-17 from beyond the arc to notch her record-setting performance.
 
A major factor but not a one-woman show, Wilson was joined by redshirt-senior forward Jhade Hayes (Land O'Lakes, Fla.) with 11 points, seven rebounds and a career-high five steals while senior center Brittany Williams (Albany, Ga.) finished with 13 points, five caroms and a pair of blocks in 34 minutes. Senior forward Kelsie Towns (Butler, Ga.) rounded things with seven points in as many minutes.
 
When it came to the game itself, it would one of runs early on as Clayton State jumped out to a 7-2 advantage in the first two and a half minutes before an 8-0 Cougars run flipped the script and gave them a 10-7 lead approaching the midway point of the opening frame. The Lakers would have that topped as Wilson dropped six and Brittany Williams four as part of a commanding 10-0 run that put them back ahead 17-10 before closing the period with a 19-13 margin.
 
In a game of "can you top that", it was then Columbus State's turn, specifically Kaihla Carter, as she accounted for a 9-0 burst to start the second, once again turning the lead over, this time at 22-19 by the 7:21 mark. The teams would then remain close the rest of the way as the Cougars scored 13 of the next 22 points to take a 32-31 lead into the break.
 
Over the first four minutes of the third quarter, Clayton State responded with a dominant 14-3 run fueled by another six points from Wilson and five from Hayes to pull back ahead 45-35. That margin would grow to 51-40 with three minutes showing in the period before the Lakers took a 55-45 lead to the fourth.
 
Seeing an opportunity slipping away, Columbus State opened that frame with an 8-2 stretch to get all the way to within 57-53 just 2:44 in before Wilson led an 8-0 burst to push to a 65-53 advantage with 4:46 showing on the clock. The Cougars would not be done, however, as they clawed all the way back to 67-63 by the 2:29 mark.
 
At that point, Clayton State's offense would remain cold and Columbus would join them as neither club would score in the next minute and a half until Wilson sunk a pair of shots from the charity stripe with 54 seconds to play. Carter then came through for the Cougars, draining a clutch three to cut it to 69-66 just 14 seconds later.
 
That would be as close as they would get, however, as an 8-for-8 performance at the line down the stretch erased any chance Columbus State had as the Lakers locked up the 77-72 victory.
 
Carter delivered a tremendous performance herself, knocking down 12-of-15 from the foul line for 24 points and added seven boards, five steals and four assists to lead Columbus State. Not far behind was Aujana Dawkins with seven points and a game-high 12 rebounds while Aryan Dozier had 14 points and six assists. Valeria Merlos closed out the top performers with 15 points.
 
The Lakers continue a three game road trip down the stretch of the Peach Belt Conference season as they head to USC Aiken on Saturday, February 22. Game time is set for 1:30 p.m. in Aiken, South Carolina.
 
NOTES
With the victory, Clayton State now takes over sole possession of the No. 3 seed in the PBC … should the teams deadlock at the end of the regular season, their season split will have the No. 3 and No. 4 seed decided by league tiebreakers … looking at what each team did against clubs at the top of the standings on down, Columbus State lost both to Lander and North Georgia while the Lakers lost their lone game against the Bearcats (a product of an unbalanced schedule) and their first against UNG … they will, however, have the opportunity to earn that tiebreaker, if needed, with a win over the Nighthawks on February 29.