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300! 56-54 thriller gives No. 15 Clayton State women milestone victory
Woodard scores 12 points as Lakers improve to 17-3 overall and 8-2 in Peach Belt Conference

Box Score
AMERICUS, Ga. – February 3, 2010 – Playing its first road game in nearly a month, the Clayton State Laker women’s basketball team needed to scratch and claw its way for every chance on Wednesday night at in-state rival Georgia Southwestern.

However, the Lakers played stellar defense in the first half and then fended off a fierce second-half rally by Georgia Southwestern to escape with a 56-54 victory at the Student Success Center. The victory improves 15th-ranked Clayton State to 17-3 overall and 8-2 in the Peach Belt Conference.

In addition, it’s also the 300th victory in the history of Clayton State women’s basketball, now in its 19th-season.

"That’s what you call stealing one on the road," said a relieved Clayton State head coach Dennis Cox. "They (Georgia Southwestern) have gotten better every year, and we had a tough time putting the ball in the hole. However, if we defend, we can win and tonight was a good example of that."

Clayton State was stellar defensively in the first half, limiting the Lady Hurricanes to only 16 percent shooting from the field and 11 percent from 3-point range to lead 24-11 at halftime. In fact, Georgia Southwestern scored only four points in the first 14 minutes of the game and committed more turnovers (13) than the amount of points scored.

But the Lady Hurricanes came back strong in the second half, shooting 50 percent from the field, 75 percent (3-for-4) from 3-point range and 83 percent from the free throw line.

The Lakers built an early 15-point lead in the second half, and four times led by 11 points. A 3-point basket by Genesis Kelly gave Clayton State a 34-23 lead with 13:37 remaining. However, Georgia Southwestern answered with a 10-2 run to trim the lead to three points. Whitley Wiltz’s 3-point basket with 10:47 remaining brought the Lady Hurricanes to within 36-33.

Clayton State extended its lead back to eight points as two free throws by Tanisha Woodard gave the Lakers a 47-39 lead at the 7:40 mark. But Georgia Southwestern would not go away. Three times, the Lady Hurricanes cut the Laker lead to three points, and then a jumper in the lane by Brittany Reynolds cut the Clayton State lead to 55-54 with eight seconds remaining.

The Lakers’ Teshymia Tillman was fouled with eight seconds remaining and she connected on 1-for-2 from the free throw line. Georgia Southwestern’s Nadriah Gardner drove to the baseline, but her running jumper rolled off the rim as time expired.

"We lost focus at halftime with the big lead, and we will have to learn from that," Cox said. "And we have to do a better job taking care of the ball. We weren’t the same defensively in the second half."

Woodard paced Clayton State with 12 points. Stoudemire grabbed eight rebounds for the Lakers despite missing most of the second half with an injury,

For Georgia Southwestern (9-11, 4-5 PBC), Brittany Reynolds recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Wiltz scored 12 points.

Clayton State travels next to Georgia College in a key Peach Belt Conference showdown on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.