GREENWOOD, S.C. – Clayton State (20-10, 15-5 PBC) came in with the longest winning streak in the Southeast Region at 11 games but could not repeat their success of a week ago as No. 16/18 North Georgia (26-4, 17-3 PBC) came out on fire on their way to an 87-65 victory in Peach Belt Conference Tournament Semifinal action and an NCAA Division II women's basketball game on Saturday, March 7.
 
One of the hottest players in the region, senior guard Taneria Wilson (Fort Pierce, Fla.) put together another strong performance with a game-high 26 points, three assists and a pair of steals to lead the Lakers while redshirt-senior guard Christal Williams (Riverdale, Ga.) finished with 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Junior forwards Jada Francois Lubin (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and Timi'a Swanson (Americus, Ga.) rounded out the top performers with nine points and four boards and seven points and three steals, respectively.
 
Just a game removed from a 73-64 loss in Morrow last Saturday, the Nighthawks came out determined as five straight layups staked them to a 10-0 lead by the 6:16 mark. Clayton State would manage a 9-4 stretch with five points from Francois Lubin and four from Wilson to pull to within 14-9 just over three minutes later but a 10-2 burst by UNG extended their lead to 24-11 by the quarter break.
 
In the second they would maintain at least a 14 point margin over the first 3:41 before taking a 34-20 advantage and growing it to a 44-22 bulge off of another 10-2 run, this one culminating with 1:15 showing on the clock. The Lakers would then knock down a pair of jumpers to head to the break trailing 44-26.
 
A Williams jumper to start the third would continue that mini run and make it a 16 point deficit within the first minute but things would not continue to trend that way as the Nighthawks managed a 15-8 stretch to push to a 23 point margin, 59-36, by the three minute mark of the frame. They would make it 25 points before heading to the fourth with the score at 66-43.
 
Things would not improve markedly in that period although the Lakers would eventually narrow the gap to 17 points, 77-60, by the four minute mark but it would be too little, too late. From there North Georgia would go on to close out the 87-65 victory and earn a berth in the PBC Championship Game against host Lander.
 
PBC Player of the Year Julianne Sutton led UNG with 23 points while Abbie Franklin and Imani Arnold each dropped 16 points on the night. Kara Groover flirted with a triple-double before finishing with eight points, 10 boards and seven assists and Kyra Davis rounded out the top performers with eight points and five caroms.
 
With a 20-win season and a pair of wins over nationally ranked teams on their resume, the Lakers will now await word on whether or not they will be selected for the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional. The selection show will be air at 10 p.m. on Sunday, March 8 on www.NCAA.com.
 
NOTES
Clayton State entered the game having won 11 in a row which was the longest active streak in the Southeast Region following Belmont Abbey's 17 game streak being snapped with a loss to Limestone in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament Semifinals earlier in the day … the Lakers entered the weekend sitting in the final spot, No. 8, in the NCAA Southeast Region poll … the outcomes of the championship games in the both the SAC (Tusculum/Anderson) and Conference Carolinas (Limestone/Barton) both feature teams which could steal a bid with a win.