FMU women fall in PBC title game

AIKEN — Riding a hot hand by Teshymia Tillman, No. 21 Clayton State captured the Peach Belt Conference championship with a 94-75 victory over 17th-ranked Francis Marion on Sunday.

Tillman, the tournament MVP, led the Lakers with 34 points and 15 rebounds. She tied the PBC Tournament record for most field goals made in a game with 14.

“I was a little nervous, and I’m never nervous before a game,” Tillman said. “But I had other people stepping up and making big plays. Everybody that came off the bench played, there was no backing down. It wasn’t about me, at all, it was my teammates getting me involved.”

The championship is the Lakers first since 2007 and third overall. The Lakers defeated Columbus State 83-76 in overtime in 2005 and 50-43 in 2007 to capture their two previous championships.
The Lakers earn the automatic bid into this week’s Division II tournament. FMU also will earn an at-large bid to the tournament. The pairings will be announced tonight at 9 p.m.

Tanisha Woodard also picked up a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds while Genesis Kelly scored 13 points and dished out five assists. The final Laker in double-figures was Lesheria Stevens who scored 12 points.

Nicole Mealing led the Patriots with 17 points. Shannon Singleton-Bates had 14 while Eboni Fields chipped in 13. The final Patriot in double figures was Shana Franks with 10 points. Precious Tucker led the team with 10 rebounds.

FMU shot just 32.4 percent from the field while CSU shot 50.7 percent. The Lakers also won the rebound battle out-rebounding the Patriots 48-45.

The 94 points scored by the Lakers was the most points scored in a PBC Championship game.

For the second time in two days the Patriots entered halftime trailing despite coming into the tournament with only four games in which they had trailed at halftime. The Lakers used a 19-4 run just two minutes into the game to take a 25-9 lead.The run was capped off by a Jemison jumper assisted by Tillman. CSU pushed that lead up to 22 points but a late run by the Patriots cut their advantage to just five at halftime.

Down 40-18 with 6:58 left in the half the Patriots went on a 21-4 run to cut the Lakers lead to just five with 1:57 left. CSU answered with five-straight points but FMU had the answer with five-straight of their own as the half ended with CSU up 49-44.

“The kids showed a lot of resolve in making that run and getting ourselves back into the basketball game. Clayton State is a great team and very experienced,” FMU coach Heather Macy said.

The Lakers opened up the second half with a 15-4 run that gave them a 16-point lead and they never looked back. CSU continued to lead by double-digits the rest of the way pushing their lead to as much as 20.

“They’re so explosive, that you know no lead is safe,” Clayton State coach Dennis Cox said. “It felt like a one-point game the whole game to us. Because that’s how much respect we have for them. They cut the lead down to five, quickly, just before half and even though we were frustrated with that at halftime, it may have been a blessing in disguise because it showed us that it can happen again.
“We did a better job of staying focused.”