Albany, GA- Artisha Holston recorded a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Albany State Lady Rams to a 65-52 victory over the Claflin Lady Panthers. With the win, ASU improves to 8-9 overall and 7-3 in the SIAC. Claflin falls to 10-7, 4-5.
Albany State showed that it would be dominate as the game progressed. The Lady Rams jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead in the opening minutes of the first half. By the 10:14 mark, ASU had its first double digit lead at 18-6.
A three-pointer by Keidra Green gave the team its biggest lead, 25-11, of the stanza. The Lady Rams led 35-22 at intermission, holding the Lady Panthers to 20.6% shooting from the field.
In the second half, the Lady Rams continued to pull away from their guests. A 13-4 run produced Albany State's biggest advantage, 48-26, with 11:25 left in regulation.
However, ASU went cold from the field, and Claflin made a run of its own to close the gap to 56-46 at the 4:43 mark. That's as close as they would get. The Lady Rams made some key baskets down the stretch to put Claflin away.
Ieshia Young scored 14 points, and Green had 13 points and eight rebounds.
The Lady Rams shot 21 of 55 (38.2%) from the field, one of three (33.3%) from three-point range, and 22 of 36 (61.1%) from the free throw line. ASU held the Lady Panthers to 28.6% shooting from the field and outrebounded them 55-36.
Albany State returns to action on Saturday, January 31 when they host archrival Fort Valley State University in the program's annual homecoming celebration at ASU HPER Gymnasium. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.
