Albany, Ga. - Ashley Fields came off the bench to score a game-high 16 points, 11 coming in the second-half, in leading the Claflin University Lady Panthers past Albany State University, 60-54, in a Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) East Division game Thursday.
The road win improved Claflin season record to 3-4 overall and 2-1 in the SIAC.
Albany State dropped to 4-4 and 1-2.
Fields also led the Lady Panthers on the boards, pulling down 12 of her team 44 rebounds. She also was near-perfect from the free throw line at 12-of-14 shots, while dishing out a game-high eight assists.
Other double-figure scorers for Claflin included
Dominique Williams with 14 and
Joy Okeke at 11 points.
Jhanice Stokes and
Deja Dickens chipped in seven points each for the Lady Panthers.
Albany State was led by Kayla Green and Achanti Layfield with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
After a low scoring affair in the first half, 41 total points, the two teams combined for 73 in the second half.
Claflin outscored Albany State by a slim 37-36 margin in the second half with 12 points coming from the free throw line. The Lady Panthers finished the game 21-of-33 from the charity stripe, while the Lady Rams was 9-of-13.
In the fourth quarter, Claflin gained its biggest lead of the game nine points, 53-44, with 4:29 left. The Lady Panthers used an 11-2 run to break a 42-42 at the 7:43 mark in gaining the distance.
Albany State pulled within three points on three different occasions over the last 2:41 minutes, the last being 57-54.
Albany State outscored Claflin 20-17 in the third quarter.
In the first quarter, Albany State jumped out to a 6-1 lead after four minutes of play, but the Lady Panthers scored 11 of the final 16 points of the quarter to lead 12-11.
In the second quarter, Claflin increased the one-point first quarter advantage to a five-point lead by the outscoring Albany State 11-7 for a 23-18 halftime lead.
Claflin will travel to Fort Valley State University on Saturday (Dec. 2) for another divisional game. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the HPE Complex on the Fort Valley State campus.
