Lady Panthers Advance to the Semi-Finals

Box Score Atlanta, Ga.---With a 67-63 quarterfinal win over #6E Claflin University Thursday, the No. 2 seeded Lady Panthers of Clark Atlanta University advanced to the semi-final round of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) basketball tournament at Forbes Arena on the campus of Morehouse College.

Junior point guard Conisha Hicks wasted no time offensively with 10 points in the first period as she paced the Lady Panthers to an early 12-0 lead to open the game. Claflin slowly chipped away at the lead after turning up the defensive pressure with its own 12-1 run with 8:44 remaining. After extending its lead to as many as nine points, CAU ended the first half with a 30-26 advantage. The Lady Panthers dominated on the boards 31 to 18 including 14 offensive rebounds behind Erika Sumpter who pulled down seven in the first period.

Clark Atlanta pushed its lead to 10 points midway into the second half before Claflin (6-23) closed the gap to four points which is the closest it would come to lead. Talaya Robinson finished with a game-high 29 points followed by Laquanda Williams with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Lady Panthers of Claflin.

CAU’s starting five accounted for 52 of its 67 total points behind Hicks with 20, Denissea Law and La’Quisha Lewis with 11 each and Shavon Caldwell who added 10. Lewis led the Lady Panthers in rebounding with 13 followed by Sumpter and Law with 12 as they controlled the boards throughout the game with a 60-38 advantage.

With the win, Clark Atlanta (17-10) will face #4E Fort Valley State University in the semifinals Friday, March 1^st, at 5:30 p.m. The winner of this match-up will earn a berth in the championship game Saturday. General admission tickets are $15 and students are $10 with a valid ID.

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