COLUMBUS, Ga. – Third-ranked Clayton State placed four players in double figures Thursday afternoon to defeat Augusta State, 69-41, in the quarterfinal round of the Peach Belt Conference Championships hosted by Columbus State University at the Frank G. Lumpkin Center.
Clayton State, the top seed in the West Division, improved to 26-2, while the Lady Jaguars, the fourth seed in the East, wrapped up their season at 12-15.
With the win, the Lakers advance to Saturday's 2:00 p.m., semifinal against the Lander/Georgia Southwestern winner. The championship game is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.
Brittany Hall led the Lakers with a game-high 15 points and Drameka Griggs added 14 points. Tanisha Woodard booked 11 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and six steals, while Kayla Mobley 11 points and seven rebounds.
Augusta State was led by Amber Peterson's 14 points. Laci Schreiber had a team-best seven rebounds, while Brittany White notched nine points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists.
After a 2-2 start, Clayton went on a 9-0 run to make it 11-2 at the 12-minute mark on a three-pointer by Hall, a steal and layup by Griggs, a Shannon Smith three-point play and a Mobley free throw.
Schreiber scored ASU's second basket at 10:14 to cut it to 11-4, then the Lady Jags trimmed the margin to 16-11 after a three by Peterson and a Schreiber layup at 7:57.
Hall nailed a three at 5:54 to put Clayton up 19-11, but ASU's Becky Newhouse answered with two free throws at 4:23 to cut the margin to 19-13.
Clayton State stretched its lead to double figures at 23-13 with 2:40 left on a basket by Mobley and a fast break layup by Griggs. Tiffany Jaecks scored the half's final basket to pull Augusta to within 25-18.
The Lakers moved out to their first double-digit lead of the second half at 33-23 with 15:02 left in the game on a layup by Woodard. Clayton State then used an 8-0 run to extend the margin to 41-26 on a Hall three-point play with 12:42 remaining to play.
The Lady Jags got it back to 10 points at 41-31 with 11:04 left to play on a Brittany White layup, but Keona Dixon's layup at 7:07 extended Clayton's lead to 17 points at 52-35.
The Lakers ended the game with a 13-0 run.
Clayton State connected on 29-of-63 field goals for 46.0 percent, including 5-of-17 threes for 29.4 percent. The Lakers sank 6-of-10 free throws for 60 percent.
Augusta State was 16-of-51 from the floor for 31.4 percent, including 5-of-14 threes for 35.7 percent. The Lady Jags made 4-of-11 foul shots for 36.4 percent.
The contest marked the final appearance in a Lady Jaguar uniform for Peterson, the team's lone senior.
