Elizabeth City, N.C. – The Claflin University women's basketball team fought from 17 points down in the third quarter en route to defeating Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) by nine, 80-71, in an overtime non-conference contest at the R. L. Vaughn Center in Elizabeth City, N.C.
 
The win, the fifth straight for Claflin, pushes the Lady Panthers overall record to 12-7.  The Lady Vikings fall to 7-8 on the season.
 
Claflin will put its win streak and its Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) East Division top spot on the line on Monday, Jan. 22, when they travel to Atlanta, Ga. to face Clark Atlanta, who sits just one game behind the Lady Panthers in the standings.
 
Claflin finished the game with five players in double-figures led by Ashley Fields and Dominique Williams with 19 points apiece.  Jhanice Stokes had 15 points while Joy Okeke and Deja Dickens had 12 points each.
 
Stokes finished the game with a double-double pulling in a game-high 10 rebounds, six defensive.
 
Fields also had a well-balanced game finishing with eight rebounds, four steals, three assists and one steal.
 
Elizabeth City's Jalyn Brown led all scorers with 32 points.  Tamara Harvey and Devona Stell dropped in 10 points each for the Lady Vikings in the loss.
 
After trailing by 13 at the half, Claflin fell behind by 17 twice in the third quarter, at the 8:12 mark (38-21) and again just one minute later (40-23), but the Lady Panthers remained poised.
 
Claflin closed the quarter with a 17-7 run to cut the deficit to seven, 47-40, heading into the fourth quarter.
 
ECSU appeared to have regained the offensive momentum, pushing its lead up back to double-digits, 53-43, within the first two minutes of the period, but the Lady Panthers kept pressing.  
 
The Lady Vikings maintained an eight-to-10 point lead over the next five minutes, but Claflin offensive intensity picked up once again.
 
The Lady Panthers closed the fourth quarter on 14-4 run to tie the game at 65-all to force overtime.
 
Claflin outscored ECSU 15-6 in the overtime period behind the play of Williams who scored six of the Lady Panthers 15 overtime points.
 
The first quarter belonged solely to the Lady Vikings who outscored the Lady Panthers 19-5.
 
Claflin was a little more competitive in the second quarter outscoring ECSU by one, 14-13. 

The Lady Vikings lead 32-19 at the half.