NEED TO KNOW:
Score: Clayton State 71 – Lander University 64
Records: Lakers (16-12, 8-10 PBC) – Bearcats (24-5, 15-3 PBC)
All-Time Series: Clayton State Leads 22-21
 
DAHLONEGA, Ga. – The Clayton State women's basketball team advanced to the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship game after upsetting the second-seeded and sixth-ranked Lander Bearcats, 71-64, at the UNG Convocation Center in Saturday's PBC semifinal matchup.

Trailing 54-46 to start the fourth quarter, the Lakers opened the period with a 12-3 run to take their first lead of the game since the 7:35 mark in the second.

The Bearcats briefly regained the advantage but five straight points by Jadah Waite and an Audrey McElhaney layup gave the Lakers a six-point lead with less than two minutes to play.

Lander would cut the deficit to three points with 37 seconds on the clock, but Clayton State closed the game with a 6-2 run to earn its first win against Lander when both teams play since the 2015-16 season.

"The whole time we've been saying 'survive and advance' and that's what we're doing," Lakers' head coach Kaleena Coleman '06 said. "We've gone through so much this season; a lot of people don't know our story and we don't really care to tell it. All we are here to do right now is to finish. Finish what we've started.

"I feel like we're peaking and playing well right now. They've stayed focused and they've stuck to the game plan. Give it up to Lander. That's a great team. We've been in the situation the last couple of years so to get here and advance, I'm proud of this team."

Clayton State will face top-seeded and No. 9 North Georgia in Sunday's conference title game at 2 p.m. Playing in the first semifinal game of the afternoon, the Nighthawks won 89-78 over fourth-seeded Columbus State.

The first half was a close affair as neither team led by more than nine points. Lander led after the first quarter 17-15 and built a 36-27 lead with 30 seconds left in the second before McElhaney hit a pair of free throws to close the half.

The junior led the Lakers with a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double that included three steals in 24 minutes of play.

Clayton State forced the Bearcats into 24 turnovers while collecting 13 steals. They scored 24 points off those turnovers while Lander had only 12 points off turnovers.

Clayton State also held a 27-7 advantage in bench points. Ten different players scored at least two points in the game for the Lakers. Timi'a Swanson finished with 11 points and five rebounds.

The Lakers fell behind by as many as 11 points early in the third and had a difficult time closing the gap until they took over in the fourth, outscoring the Bearcats 25-10.

Clayton State is 1-1 against UNG this season as both teams won on the road. UNG will look to repeat as conference champs after taking the crown in 2021.
 
Up Next:
- Clayton State looks for its first conference championship since 2012-13 on Sunday. The Lakers will take on the top-seeded and No. 9 UNG Nighthawks at 2:00 p.m.
 
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