Claflin Defeat Clark Atlanta to Advance the Semi-Final of the 2017 SIAC Championships

Birmingham, Ala. (Claflin) — Carnique Marks record a double-double, 13 points-10 rebounds and added three blocks as the Claflin University women’s basketball team defeated Clark Atlanta, 70-55, to advance to the semi-final round of the 2017 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) basketball championships.

The Championships, which runs thru Saturday, March 4, are being contested at the Bill Harris Arena inside the Birmingham Crossplex in Birmingham, Ala.

This the first time under head coach Deont’a McChester that the Lady Panthers have advance to the semis.

Claflin will face the No. 1 seed from the West Division, Central State on Friday (March 3) at 5:30 p.m. (CST)

“We’ve been so close the past three years, it feels good to finally get over the hump,” said McChester.  “We will enjoy win for a little while but then prepare for Central State.”

Claflin had four players to finish in double-figures as Joclyn Ramos also finished the game with a double-double, 12 points-10 rebounds.  Jhanice Stokes and Dominique Williams came off the bench to score 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Claflin used a well-balanced scoring and rebounding attack in the victory.

Contributing to the win was Lariah Stevens who had five points with eight rebounds and six assists and NaBresha Hughes who finished the game with seven points and four rebounds.

Williams and Stokes pulled in six rebounds apiece.

Clark Atlanta was led by Lauren Turner with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

“First I want to congratulate Coach Moore on the job this season.  They are a tough team who gave us problems in the regular season,” said McChester.

“We wanted to come out and establish our defense as well as be smart and stick with the game plan offensively.  We had three focal points we wanted to execute today: having energy, rebounding and listening and I am proud of the way the team followed through on all three.”

Claflin energy was evident early in the second half as they opened with a 7-0 run to push its lead to 19, 44-25, with 6:43 remaining in the third period.

A jumper by Sydni Davis stopped the run but the Lady Panthers remained solid enjoying a 19 point lead (37-25) heading into the final stanza.

Clark Atlanta had it best showing in the fourth quarter, starting with a 10-3 run to cut the deficit to 12, 56-44, with 5:06 remaining.

Claflin remained poised, scoring the next eight points for its biggest lead of the contest, 20 (64-44), with just under three minutes remaining.

Clark Atlanta made one final push scoring the next nine-of-11 points, but could not overcome the large deficit.

The start of the game was very competitive as the teams battled back and forth throughout the first quarter with the Lady Panthers owning a three-point advantage, 13-10, heading into the second.

The Lady Panthers used a 15-4 run over the first four-plus minutes to push the lead to 14, 28-14, with 5:40 remaining the first half.

Clark Atlanta used an 11-4 run over a four-plus minute span to cut the deficit to seven, 32-25, with 1:31 remaining.

The Lady Panthers scored the final five points of the half for the 37-25 advantage at intermission.

Game Notes: Claflin had one of their best rebounding performances of the season, outrebounding Clark Atlanta by 30, 59-29…The Lady Panthers outscored Clark Atlanta 48-32 in the paint…Claflin’s bench outscored Clark Atlanta 44-15.