Basic HTML Version
Page 17
Campus Review
March 6, 2012
Campus Review
March 6, 2012
Editor:
John Shiffert
Writers:
Erin Fender
Ciji Fox
Lauren Graves
Layout:
Lauren Graves
Photography:
Erin Fender
Ciji Fox
Kevin Liles
Graphic Design: Lauren Graves
For a Triple Double… and the Conference Steals Record
Woodard Selected Peach Belt Conference “Player of the Week”
by Lee Wright, Sports Information
The Peach Belt Conference released its
last regular season weekly honors for
women’s basketball on Monday, and for
the second time this season, Clayton
State’s Tanisha Woodard was selected as
the Peach Belt Conference “Player of the
Week.”
Woodard, a 5-foot-10 senior forward from
Rome, Ga., enjoyed a tremendous conclu-
sion to the regular season in her two
games last week. She scored nine points
and grabbed 12 rebounds in the Lakers’
78-44 victory over Montevallo on
Wednesday. But it was Clayton State’s
regular season finale against Georgia
College on Saturday where Woodard had
the spotlight.
First, she recorded four steals to set the
Peach Belt Conference career record for
steals with 408. That shattered the previ-
ous mark of 407 held by former
Columbus State standout LaShawn
Mincey from 1997-2001. And second,
Woodard recorded only the fourth triple-
double in the history of Peach Belt
women’s basketball with 13 points, 11
assists and 10 rebounds in the Lakers’ 93-
58 victory. It was also the third triple dou-
ble in Clayton State history, and the first
by a women’s basketball player.
That helped pace Clayton State to its fifth
Peach Belt Conference regular season
championship in the last eight seasons.
For the season, Woodard is leading the
Peach Belt in both steals and assists, and is
also ranked fifth in blocked shots and sev-
enth in assist-to-turnover ratio. In addition,
she is ranked 10th in the nation in steals.
Woodard also moved into second place
all-time at Clayton State in points. She
now has 1,324 points for her Laker
career.
Sports
Clayton State Women Lose to
Aiken in PBC Tournament Championship
Aiming for its fourth Peach Belt
Conference Tournament championship in
the last eight seasons, the Clayton State
Laker women’s basketball team came up
short in its quest, dropping a tough 52-47
decision against USC Aiken in Sunday’s
championship at the Lumpkin Center.
The defeat snaps a 10-game winning
streak for Clayton State, which is ranked
third in the nation in Division II. The
Lakers are now 28-3 overall, and will earn
an at-large bid to the 2012 NCAA
Division II National Tournament for an
eighth straight season.
No. 9 USC Aiken, which won its first
PBC Tournament title, improves to 26-3
overall and wins the Peach Belt
Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA
Division II National Tournament.
“They (USC Aiken) came out and stuck it
to us, played us real physical and we did-
n’t respond to that very well,” said
Clayton State head coach Dennis Cox.
“We showed a lot heart and character in
the second half making the comeback that
we did, but sometimes it takes so much
energy to make that comeback that it’s
hard to finish.
“USC Aiken has always been a tough
match-up for us, and they won the game
within the game today.”
Unlike Saturday’s semifinal victory over
Lander, Clayton State started the game
sluggish, shooting only 24 percent from
the field and making only one 3-point bas-
ket. The Lakers at one point trailed by 11
points as the Pacers’ Daniela Tarailo made
a baseline jumper at the 6:52 mark.
Clayton State trimmed the deficit to four
points 24-20 on a jumper in the lane by
Kayla Mobley, but USC Aiken closed out
the half scoring the final six points to lead
30-20 at halftime.
The Lakers got down by as many as 16
points early in the second half before
slowly and methodically chipping away at
the USC Aiken lead. Clayton State used a
9-1 run to trim the lead to eight points as
Tanisha Woodard twice scored in transi-
tion and Mobley scored on a baseline
layup at the 10:33 mark.
A 3-point basket by Brittany Hall, fol-
lowed by back-to-back lay-ups by Dixon
and Shannon Smith trimmed the USC
Aiken lead to 43-42 with 7:36 remaining.
After USC Aiken pushed the lead back to
Vs. Aiken, cont’d., p. 15