FAIRFIELD, Ala. - Clark Atlanta dropped the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener to Miles College, 56-53. CAU held a five-point lead with 1:14 remaining before Miles connected on nine free throws to win the game.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:Score: Miles 56, Clark Atlanta 53
Record: Miles (3-2, 1-0 SIAC), Clark Atlanta (1-7, 0-1 SIAC)
Date: Dec. 5, 2015 | Time: 1:00 p.m.
Location: Knox-Windham Gymnasium | Fairfield, Ala. | Attendance: 247
HOW IT HAPPENED:Miles opened the game on a 6-0 run before
Brandie Robertson took the
Mykala Jones assist in for a layup at the 5:28 mark in the opening quarter.
Miles scored five unanswered before back-to-back jumpers were good by
Gia Banks and
Siera Bubb made the game 11-6 with 3:37 remaining in the opening segment.
CAU would add three more points with a FT from
Sydni Davis and a Banks jumper at the buzzer. CAU ended the first quarter trailing 15-9.
The Panthers would outscore the Lady Golden Bears in the second quarter, 19-13, for the tie game at the intermission, 28-28.
Jones opened the second quarter with a jumper to cut the lead to four, 15-11.
CAU would trail by eight points with 7:09 before the half before embarking on a 17-4 run ending with the largest lead of the game of the Panthers with 37 seconds left. During the run Jones scored eight and Davis added four points.
Miles tied the game with a late 3-pointer and a pair of made FT attempts.
Miles outscored Clark Atlanta by six points in the third quarter, 14-8.
Whitney Collins scored the first points of the second half with a jumper 10 seconds into the half.
Davis scored on a jumper and layup, Banks added a free throw, and Robertson made a FT for the third quarter scoring.
The fourth quarter opened with Miles opening up a nine-point lead before Jones added a layup to her point total. Jones scored the first five CAU points in the final ten minutes.
Davis tied the score, 47-47, after making both FT attempts with 4:05 left in the game.
Banks gave CAU the lead by one point with a made FT before Jones scored on the fast-break layup and Davis added another pair of free throws, CAU would lead 52-47.
Miles closed the game with a 9-1 run as the game was decided on the free throw line.
THE NUMBERS:Jones (20) and Davis (15) were the only Panthers to reach double-digit point totals and were the top scorers in the game.
Jones shot 8-for-23 from the field and 4-for-5 from the free throw line. Davis was 4-for-10 from the floor and 7-for-10 from the line. Neither play connected on a 3-pointer, combining to go 0-for-6.
Robertson pulled in a season-high 10 rebounds off the bench to lead the team. She also added a team-high three assists.
Clark Atlanta shot 30.6 percent (19-for-62) from the floor and went 0-for-9 from 3-point range.
The Panthers converted 16 Lady Golden Bears into 17 points. CAU held the 12-6 advantage in fast break points with each team recoding 20 points in the paint.
UP NEXT:Clark Atlanta will host Edward Waters (Dec. 12), Florida A&M (Dec. 15), and Mobile (Dec. 29) from Epps Gymnasium to close the calendar year of 2015.
