GREENWOOD, S.C. – Crystal Brown led five Clayton State double-figure scorers with 19 points, pacing the Lady Lakers to a 78-59 victory over Lander in Peach Belt Conference women's basketball Monday night at Horne Arena.
Clayton State improved to 13-3 overall and 7-2 in the Peach Belt. Lander dropped to 4-11, 0-8.
A bright spot for Lander was center Tara Nyikavaranda, who posted her seventh double-double in her last nine games. She hit a 3-pointer with 3:25 left to give her 11 points to go along with 12 rebounds. She would finish with 12 points, a game-high 13 rebounds, five steals and three blocked shots.
Sharon Wiles joined Brown in double figurers for the Lady Lakers with 14 points, Shelcey Harp added 12 points, and Carlie Anderson and Alecia Humphrey had 11 points apiece. Humphrey also had 11 rebounds.
Shatora Irby led the Lady Bearcats with 15 points and Shaquanta Glaze added 10 points. But the team committed 37 turnovers with two guards making 13 and 11 miscues, respectively.
Lander used a 10-2 spurt midway through the second half to turn a 50-37 deficit to a 52-47 game with 10:20 to go. Irby scored back-to-back baskets during the run. But Clayton State answered with a game-clinching 15-3 run, including a basket and a three-point play by Harp. The biggest lead for the Lady Lakers was 19 points.
Clayton State used a 13-0 run to build a 40-29 halftime lead. The Lady Bearcats scored five unanswered points on Jennifer Hukill's 3-pointer and Glaze's two free throws to pull within 20-18 with 6:51 left. The Lakers responded with 13 consecutive points over the next two minutes, including three baskets by Wiles, and a basket and three free throws by Brown to make it 33-18 at the 4:38 mark. Lander outscored Clayton 11-7 the rest of the half.
For the game, Lander made 15-for-42 shots from the floor (36 percent), 25-for-37 from the free-throw line (68 percent), and 4-for-15 from 3-point range (27 percent). Clayton made 31-of-79 from the floor (39 percent), 9-for-12 from the line (75 percent), and 7-for-26 from behind the arc (27 percent). The Lady Lakers had a 44-41 rebounding edge.
