When Tony Bailey led his Clark Atlanta Lady Panthers basketball team back to the locker room at Ole Miss last Friday night, what was on the scoreboard may have surprised most people.

After all, Clark Atlanta, coming off a 7-20 season last year and with a number of new faces yet to play an official game together, is a Division II team from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.  Ole Miss, is, well, Ole Miss.  They are a storied basketball program in not only Division I, but also arguably the toughest Division I conference in the nation, the Southeastern Conference.

Yet, the scoreboard didn't lie.   At halftime, Ole Miss could under muster a one-point lead over Clark Atlanta – 31-30.

Though it was just an exhibition and the Lady Panthers wouldn't be starting their season until tonight when they take on the University of Montevallo in the Gulf South Conference/Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Challenge in Montevallo, Ala., it was an important barometer on where
Clark Atlanta women's basketball is right now.

Bailey, in his first year as head coach, thought of several things as he walked off the court at halftime last Friday.

"I was thinking, first of all, we can win," he said.  "I was really thinking about what I wanted to say to the girls. I wanted to make sure that they didn't get so caught up and becoming so complacent with being in the game that they lose focus.  But first of all, it was 'we can win this game.'"

The Lady Panthers came out after halftime and had tough time shooting, scoring only nine points in the third quarter.  Ole Miss was able to score 30 points on a CAU defense they had been having trouble navigating, pushing out the lead 61-39 and maintain the advantage the rest of the way to defeat the Lady Panthers 79-52. 

Reagan Jackson finished with 11 points, while Naomi Holloway had ten points and three steals. Nailah-Mawusi Mitchell added eight points, three rebounds and a steal. 

Take away the third quarter – CAU played a strong fourth quarter, only being outscored 18-13 in the fourth – and the Lady Panthers could have been in the midst of a huge upset as they forced Ole Miss into 28 turnovers and had ten steals. 

"Overall, I think it was a team effort on defense," Bailey said. "We were in the right rotations, we contained our man and kept them in front of us.  When you play good defense and limit them to one shot, you're going to be in the game and that's what we did.

"But you're not going to win – and I don't care what level you're on – when you give up 30 points in a quarter," he said.  "And we only scored nine.  We were stagnant on offense. We were limiting them to one shot, too.  But when you give up six or seven straight layups, it's hard to combat that.  They had a player who went six-for-six during that stretch.  So you just can't give up 30 points and expect to win, no matter if you're playing Division I, Division II or whatever.  We just gave up too many transition points in a short time."

Heading into tonight's game against a Montevallo team that is looking to better their 12-16 record from last season, including a season-ending stretch where they lost five of their last six, Bailey believes his squad has some momentum they can capitalize on.

"I think we can be good,' he said.  "We're not good, but we can be good.  We have the potential to be good. Like any coach, you're never satisfied.  For me, I think where I see us from last year, we defend and are limiting teams to one shot.  And that's what makes a good team.  If you can stop teams and get offensive rebounds, you'll always give yourself a chance."

The Lady Panthers are led by Preseason All-SIAC picks Reagan Jackson and Reyana Miller, along with returner Naomi Holloway who played at Columbus State last season after a big freshman season at CAU in 2017-18.   Holloway was named the SIAC's Freshman of the Year and Newcomer of the Year that season as she helped the Lady Panthers to win the SIAC Tournament title and earn an NCAA Division II tournament bid.

"But, I think I like us as a defensive team," Bailey said. "I think we're a whole lot better because we have more pieces. We have an inside presence.  I think our mental toughness is there too.  I think that's key for us."

After tonight's game against Montevallo, the Lady Panthers are back on the floor Saturday at noon central time when they play Auburn-Montgomery.   They then have their home opener on Thursday, Nov. 14 when they play Saint Leo University at 6 p.m. in L.S. Epps Gymnasium. 

Bailey believes his team's experience against Ole Miss will help them along the way.

"I think they are still reeling from the idea that 'hey, we could have beaten an SEC team, should have beaten an SEC team,'" he said of his team. "I think they're riding high off of that and we're going to push that into when we see Montevallo and Auburn Montgomery."