2012-13 Peach Belt Conference Yearbook | Page 20

ley adding a double-double as Clayton State’ s women’ s basketball team punched its ticket to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight with an, 87-65, win over Limestone in the Southeast Regional Final.

Griggs had a game-best five steals to go with her 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and an 8-of-13 mark from the charity stripe.

The Lakers out-rebounded Limestone, 47-31, and used their 14 offensive rebounds to outscore Limestone, 14-0, in second chance points.

The Lakers( 32-0) never trailed in the contest, though Limestone( 27-4) did its best to pull back into contention. A quick 6-0 spurt by Limestone pulled the guests back within six, 47-41, with just under 14 minutes to go in the contest. The Lakers kept Limestone at arms length, getting back-to-back buckets by Keona Dixon and Mobley to stretch the lead back to double-digits.

With just under nine minutes to go in the contest, the Lakers seized control for good. A 3-pointer by Griggs and a 3-point play from Shacamra Jackson bounced the lead back to 15 at the 7:29 mark of the contest. When Jackson connected on her only 3-pointer of the contest two minutes later, the Lakers led, 71-53, and were on cruise control for the rest of the way.

Mobley’ s 12 rebounds were a game high, with the senior scoring 17 points to complete the double-double. Jackson added 16 points for the Lakers, with Bena Hanyard chipping in 10 for the home squad.

Tia Williams scored a game-high 25 points for Limestone, thanks in part to 11-of-13 shooting from the foul line. Stephanie Hayes netted 17 points for Limestone. The Saints were 0-of-15 from 3-point territory in the first half, but connected on 5-of-10 from beyond the arc in the second half to stay in the contest.

The Lakers will continue their quest for perfection and a second national championship in three years on March 26 at Bill Greehey Arena in San Antonio, Texas.

Clayton State will begin the journey to a possible national championship on Tuesday, March 26, when they face Augustana in the first game of the Elite Eight at 1:00 pm central time. All games of the Elite Eight will be played at Bill Greehey Arena on the campus of St. Mary’ s University in San Antonio.

Located in Sioux Falls, SD, Augustana( 27-6) was the surprise winner of the central region. A # 6 seed, the Vikings beat eighth-seeded Emporia State 75-74 on a pair of free throws with one second on the clock. Ranked # 24 in the nation, Augustana set a school record for wins in a season this year and won the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament title.

Griggs Named WBCA Player of the Year Finalist; Cox Region Coach of the Year

ATLANTA, GA – Clayton State senior guard Drameka Griggs has been named an All-American and a finalist for the Player of the Year by the Women’ s Basketball Coaches Association( WBCA). Lakers head coach Dennis Cox was named the southeast region Coach of the Year while North Georgia’ s Jaymee Carnes and USC Aiken’ s Diana Tarailo were named All-America honorable mentions.

Griggs joins Ashland’ s Kari Daugherty and UMass-Lowell’ s Bianca Simmons as the Player of the Year finalists. The award will be presented on April 8 during the Division I Final Four in New Orleans, La.

A senior from Ellenwood, Ga., Griggs was named the PBC Player of the Year after leading Clayton State to an undefeated record, # 1 ranking in the nation and a fourth NCAA Elite Eight appearance. She led the team and was second in the league in scoring with 19.7 points per game. She also led the league in steals, was second in free throw percentage and third in field goal percentage. She scored in double figures in all but three games and topped the 30-point plateau twice against Francis Marion and USC Aiken.

As Griggs prepares to lead Clayton State into the Elite Eight today against Augustana, she is third on the school’ s all-time scoring list with 1,366 points and second on the steals list with 309, which is also seventh in PBC history. A four-time PBC Player of the Week this season, Griggs joins Tanisha Woodard as the only Clayton State players to be named WBCA All-Americans.

Dennis Cox has his team ready to make a run at another national championship. Currently 32-0 and ranked # 1 in the nation, the Lakers could become the only PBC team to ever finish a season undefeated. Winners of the league’ s regular-season and tournament championships, he has been named the PBC Coach of the Year three times. Jaymee Carnes led the Saints back to the Peach Belt Conference

Region Most Outstanding Player: Drameka Griggs, Clayton State

Tournament for the first time since 2009 and also led the team to its first-ever appearance in the tournament championship game. Along the way, she averaged 17.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per game this season while logging the second-most minutes on the team at 903, an average of 33.4 minutes per game.

She led the team in scoring, rebounding, field goals made( 193), field goals attempted( 434) and blocked shots( 55). She finished the year with 11 double-doubles and scored 20 or more points nine times while scoring in double-digits points in every game she played in.

Daniella Tarailo averaged 15.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game in the 2012-13 season. She scored in double figures 26 times this past season. She scored over 20 six times. The senior netted over 30 points twice, scoring a career-best 31 points in USC Aiken’ s road league win over then No. 24 Augusta State on Saturday, Feb. 2.

Tarailo was chosen as the Peach Belt Conference Player of the Week on Feb. 4. She concludes her Pacer career in the top-10 in school history for total points with 1,169 career points. She is also in the top-10 in USC Aiken’ s NCAA Division II history in 3-pointers made( 216), games played( 119) and minutes played( 2,894).

Georgia College’ s Shanteona Keys Named Academic All-American

Elite 15 Award Mia Antoine, USC Aiken

TOWSON, Md. – Sophomore Shanteona Keys( Roswell, Ga.) was named to the Capital One Academic All-America Third Team the College Sports Information Directors Association of America( CoSIDA) announced this week.

A sophomore mass communication major, Keys was named to the team with 4.0 GPA, one of two over the three teams to post a perfect score.

Keys becomes the firsts PBC women’ s basketball player to be named an Academic All-American since North Georgia’ s Katie Williamson in 2005-06 and the fifth PBC player overall. The Academic All-America honor is generally considered the highest accolade a student-athlete can receive.

During the 2011-12 season, Keys was named Peach Belt Conference( PBC) Freshman of the Year as well as being chosen to the All-PBC Third Team. She was named to the All-PBC Preseason Team for the 2012-

13 season and has gone on to average 16.0 points per game, good for fifth in the PBC.

Keys is the first Academic All-American in Georgia College women’ s basketball history, after becoming just the third Academic All-District selection earlier this month. She was also the lone PBC selection to the list this year, and one of two sophomores selected.

To be eligible for Academic All-America ® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G. P. A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his / her current institution and be nominated by his / her sports information director.

Since the program’ s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 20,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.

The Bobcats are back in action Saturday, Feb. 23 at 3:30 p. m. for the Annual Homecoming Game, hosting the University of Montevallo.

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