Box Score Atlanta, Ga.---Junior center La’Quisha Lewis continued her impressive play inside the paint as she led the Clark Atlanta University Lady Panthers to their second win this week with a 62-55 victory over Miles College Wednesday at Epps Gymnasium.
The Lady Panthers (11-11, SIAC 11-8) who raced to a 15-point lead at the half, held Miles to only 15 percent shooting from the field and 16 points in the first period. Although Miles made it interesting in the second half by cutting CAU’s deficit to six points late and the Lady Panthers found themselves struggling from the field, they held on for their seventh victory in the last eight games.
Lewis made her presence known on both ends of the court with an impressive 12 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks performance. Fellow front court player Erika Sumpter joined the Lady Panthers block party with five of her own and as a team they rejected 13 shots. Three other Lady Panthers scored in double-digits with freshman Denissea Law recording a team-high 14 points off the bench followed by Conisha Hicks who also chipped in 12 and Sumpter with 11 points and nine rebounds.
For Miles, Sammeika Thomas led a trio of Lady Bears in double figures with a game-high 15 points and 12 rebounds while Enria Samuels and Charlesia Norman added 13 and 10 points, respectively. Despite both teams struggling from behind the arc with Miles shooting 3-for-16 and the Lady Panthers going 0-for-8, they were evenly matched on the boards with each team pulling down 47 rebounds.
Lewis, who was named this week’s SIAC women’s basketball player of the week, is the only women’s player in the conference averaging a double-double on the season with 10.3 points and 11.1 rebounds. Among other NCAA Division II players nationally, she ranks 14th in rebounding and sixth in blocked shots (3.4) while leading the SIAC in both categories. As a team, the Lady Panthers top the conference in offensive rebounds and rank second in blocked shots.
Clark Atlanta topped LeMoyne-Owen 61-58 in a thrilling comeback win Monday with two late back-to-back three-pointers by Hicks who led all scorers with 19 points in the contest.
With both wins, the Lady Panthers remain in sixth place in the conference standings. Next, they will host Fort Valley State for their last home game and senior night presentations Saturday, Feb. 18, at 6 p.m., before hitting the road for their last two regular season games.
