Page 7 - Laker Connection Fall 2011

Maybe you talk statistics, since basketball is a game of sta- tistics. Tillman’s back-to-back 500 point years, making her the only two players in Clayton State women’s basketball history to score more than 500 points in a season... Woodard’s 125 steals; a new single season record... Hall’s 43.2% three point shooting that just missed setting a season record... Woodard’s third straight “do-it-all” season, that positioned her to make a run at the career scoring record next year... the 1052 turnovers
created by the press, enough for Cox and Company to have opened their own bakery, had they so desired... the 22.4 points per game differential, a fancy way of saying the Lakers went through 36 games, winning by an average of 22.4 points per game.
Perhaps you let an “insider” say something about the team, in this case Clayton State’s long-time athletic trainer, John Zubal. “Truly, a great collection of people and friends. The national
Shacamra Jackson #15
The only “true” freshman on the team, Sha- camra Jackson came to Clayton State after lettering for four seasons at Osborne High School in Marietta. The starting center and the only member of the team over six feet tall, she averaged 4.7 points and 4.2 re- bounds per game and was second on the team in blocked shots with 38. She lettered for four seasons at Osborne High School and was a McDonald’s All-American nom- inee as well as a three-time All-Region se- lection and a two-time All-Cobb County selection, scoring more than 1,000 points for her career.
Renee Jackson #21
A senior guard/forward who transferred from Clayton State Peach Belt Conference rival Columbus State. Renee Jackson is another versatile left-handed player who saw action in all 36 games, starting twice and averaging 4.7 points a game with 45 steals. The Lawrenceville, Ga., native played in 26 games last season with Columbus State, having previously played at Northwest Florida State College and Georgia Perimeter. She lettered for four seasons in basketball at Collins Hill High School in Lawrenceville and was a high school teammate of UConn All-American Maya Moore, helping lead Collins Hill to the Georgia Class AAAAA state championship during her senior season.
Alexiss Griffin #22
A freshman guard who puts the shooting in shooting guard, Alexiss Griffin transferred in from former Clayton State rival Kenne- saw State and regained a season of eligi- bility due to an injury that limited her 2009/2010 season to a single game. After coming off another injury at the start of the year, she saw action in 23 games, scoring 59 points with a high of 10 against Augusta State. A native of Cape Coral, Fla., she let- tered for four seasons at Cape Coral High School and was the Southwest Florida Player of the Year as a senior, finishing her prep career with more than 1,000 points.
Brittany Hall #23
The team’s top three-point shooter, who hit 51 out of 118 shots beyond the arc for an excellent 43.2 percent. A true two-way player, Brittany Hall also had 103 assists, 98 steals and 95 rebounds. Scored 328 points to go with the 480 she scored in her first two years, given her a career total of 808 and making her a good bet to break the 1000 point mark as a senior, when she’ll be one of the key returning members of the defending national champions. She
led the team in scoring four times, with a high of 22 against USC Aiken in the Lakers’ only loss. Hall lettered for four seasons in basketball at Campbell High School in Smyrna, Ga., and was a two-time Cobb County Player of the Year as selected by both the Marietta Daily Journal and the At- lanta Tip-Off Club. She was also a two time All-State selection and four-time All-County selection who finished her career at Camp- bell with 1,219 points, 485 rebounds, 463 steals and 350 assists.
Breanna Fort #24
Breanna Fort has been a star since, not just high school, but middle school, since she started for five (!) years for Hawthorne High School in Hawthorne, Fla., leading her team to four straight Class 2A state tournaments. At Clayton State in 2010/11, she was the only individual to start all 36 games in the championship season, aver- aging 7.4 points per game and leading the team in rebounds with 198 (5.5 per game), very similar figures to her junior year, when she averaged 6.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. A quick, hard worker in the post, in between her five years with Hawthorne and her two years with the Lakers, Fort started for two seasons at Central Florida Community College in Ocala, Fla.
Keona Dixon #25
Keona Dixon is a junior college transfer from Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, Fla., who sat out the 2010/11 sea- son as a red-shirt. Like Genesis Kelly, she was still a big part of the championship team. Another fine three-point shooter, she will have two years of eligibility at Clayton State; something to look forward to, since she is Indian River State’s all-time leading scorer. She also lettered for two years at one of the best large high school programs in Florida, Clearwater High School.
Kayla Mobley #32
Kayla Mobley transferred to Clayton State from former Peach Belt member North Florida (now in Division I Atlantic Sun Con- ference) and made an immediate impact – in both in the low post in basketball and in track and field (where she set several shot put records.) A sophomore in the 2010/ 2011 season, she came up big when it mattered the most, leading the team in scoring in both the second Lander game (the NCAA regional final) and the NCAA semifinal game against Shaw. She also led the team in scoring on two other occasions during the season, while averaging seven points a game on 57.6 percent shooting. A native of Plantation, Fla., she lettered in her one season (2008/2009) at North Florida,
and for three years at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Plantation.
Timethia Bennett #33
Along with Drameka Griggs, Timethia Ben- nett is the Lakers’ other hometown hero; she’s a native of Riverdale, Ga., who grad- uated from Mundy’s Mill High School, where she lettered for four seasons and was a two-time All-Region 4AAAAA selec- tion and Region 4AAAAA Player of the Year as a senior, leading Mundy’s Mill to the Region 4AAAAA championship. After a season at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn., she returned home for the 2009/2010 season, and played in 24 games for the Lakers. As a 5-9, junior post player in 2010/2011, she used her speed and rebounding skills in 30 games, lead- ing the team in rebounding twice; in the nationally-televised game against USC Aiken and in the first round of the Peach Belt tournament against Montevallo.
Teshymia Tillman #34
The Lakers’ “All-Everything” player. Even outside of her scoring, Teshymia Tillman epitomized a great player for Clayton State during her two years in a Laker uni- form. In the “Number One vs. Number Two” game against Lander University at Homecoming, the Lakers trailed for most of the contest, including facing a 10 point deficit with just 4:14 remaining. Tillman made nine points, three rebounds and an assist in the final six minutes of the Lakers heart-stopping 83-81 victory. Then, in the final game of her college career, Tillman led the Lakers in scoring (26 points) and was named MVP of the Elite Eight. The only two players to ever score 500 points in a season for the Clayton State women’s basketball team, Tillman is an explosive slasher from both the guard and forward posi- tions. One year after setting the single season scoring record with 525 points, she broke her own record in 2010/11 with 547 points on 51.7 percent shoot- ing, earning NCAA Division II All- American status to go along with her Elite Eight MVP award. She also has the single season field goals made (226) and attempted (437) records, and is fourth in career points (1,072.) She was also second on the team in 2010/11 in rebounds (183) and third in assists (102).
SPRING 2011 5
Keona Dixon #25
Kayla Mobley #32
Timethia Bennett #33
Teshymia Tillman #34