Lady Panthers Earn Berth in SIAC Championship Game

Box Score Atlanta, Ga.—In an epic East Divisional, semifinal battle to punch the last ticket to the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) women’s basketball championship game, it was the No. 2 seeded Lady Panthers of Clark Atlanta University who reigned victorious, 65-62, over No. 4 Fort Valley State University Friday to vie for their first conference championship title since 1999.

“This team is special and it has done something no other team has been able to do this season and that is beat Fort Valley, last season’s tournament champions, three times this season,” said CAU Head Coach Vanessa Moore who is seeking her first conference championship in her 10 year tenure at the helm of the women’s basketball program.

In a see-saw battle during the first half, Clark Atlanta held the largest lead at six points behind the play of point guard Conisha Hicks who poured in 11 points during the first period. Back-to-back three-pointers by Fort Valley’s Carmemonique Dawson and Briana Shepherd helped the Lady Wildcats to a one point lead at the 2:29 mark after a 13-6 run. Jaymie Gilbert’s three-point shot pushed Fort Valley to its largest lead of the game at five points, 32-27, but the Lady Panthers quickly closed that gap down the stretch and trailed by only two points at the half. Sophomore Iyana Spatcher was huge off the bench for CAU with nine of her 14 points in the first half.

With 10 points in the first eight minutes of the second period, Hicks paced the Lady Panthers to an 18-4 run that gave them a 50-38 lead at the 12:09 mark. But Fort Valley answered with its own 14-3 run led and only trailed by one point with 5:56 remaining. Though the Lady Panthers extended their lead back to eight points with only 2:30 left, the Lady Wildcats was not ready to give up just yet as they once again closed the gap 61-60 as time ran down. Despite shooting 50 percent (4-of-8) from the charity stripe down, Clark Atlanta was able to hold on for the win.

“Although we faced them twice prior to today’s match-up, this one was tough because both teams played like they didn’t want their season to end tonight and I know we didn’t,” said Clark Atlanta senior center LaQuisha Lewis. “We never gave up and I am glad we were able to pull out the win.”

Defensively, Lewis, who finished with her eighth double-double this season, was a force to be reckoned with in the middle with five blocks to go along with her 12 points and game-high 11 rebounds. Hicks led all scorers with a game-high 23 points on 4-of-7 from behind the arc and 7-of-8 at the line in addition to three steals in 40 minutes of play. Though she retired early due to foul trouble, junior Erika Sumpter helped the Lady Panthers gain a slim 45 to 42 advantage on the boards with 9 rebounds. As a team, CAU shot 40 percent from behind the three-point line and connected on 19-of-30 free throws.

For the Lady Wildcats, Dawson topped the team with 20 points followed by Shytina Harley who chipped in 14 and Jayme Gilbert with 10. On their road to the semifinals, Fort Valley (15-13) knocked off the West Division top-seed Tuskegee University in the quarterfinals Thursday.

The Lady Panthers will face No. 1 Benedict College in the SIAC women’s championship game Saturday, March 2, in a 5:30 p.m., tip-off at Forbes Arena on the campus of Morehouse College. General admission tickets are $15 while student tickets are $10 with ID. The championship game will be tape delayed and will air Sunday, March 3, at 4 p.m., on channel CSS. LIVE STATS can be viewed during the game by logging onto CAU’s official athletics site, www.clarkatlantasports.com.

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