The Clark Atlanta University Lady Panthers, alone in first place in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, hosts the second-place team, Claflin University tonight at 6 p.m. in L.S. Epps Gymnasium.

Only one game separates the two teams, with the Lady Panthers in first with a 9-2 SIAC record, while Claflin has an 8-2 record.

The Lady Panthers are coming off a hard-fought, 54-52 overtime win over Benedict College Saturday as Lauren Turner, the SIAC's leading rebounder, led three in double figures with 15 points while grabbing nine rebounds.   The win was the second in a row for CAU and sixth in the last eight games.

Clark Atlanta is among the SIAC's top four teams in scoring offense and scoring defense, and they are the third-ranked team in rebounding margin.

Naomi Holloway is CAU's leading scorer – fifth among all SIAC players – with 16.1 points per game.  Turner averages 13.4 points per game, while Marissa Mandeldove scores 11.4 points a game for the Lady Panthers.

Mandeldove also leads the SIAC in assists and steals, swiping five steals Saturday against Benedict.

???????Claflin has won their last five games, including Saturday's 80-71 overtime win over Elizabeth City State Unviersity of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association.  They are led by senior guard Dominique Wiilliams who averages 12.6 points and five rebounds per game.  Joy Okeke averages 11.7 points per game.

While they are in the middle of the conference pack scoring-wise, the Lady Panthers are the SIAC's top defensive team, only allowing opponents to score 57 points per game.  They also only allow opposing offenses to hit just 36 percent of their shots and lead the conference is blocked shots.

Tonight's game will also be broadcast live via webstream on www.mybcsn.net/cau.