Lady Tigers Defeat College of Charleston, 64-42, On Monday Night

Nov. 13, 2006

CLEMSON, SC – Down 24-23 at halftime, the Clemson women’s basketball team opened the second period on a 23-2 run and went on to defeat the College of Charleston by a 64-42 final.

The feat tied the school record for the largest margin of victory after trailing at the break, as the Lady Tigers had also won by a 22-point spread over Florida State during the 1998-99 season after the Seminoles held the halftime advantage.

With the win, Clemson improved to 1-1 on the year, while the College of Charleston fell to 1-1.

D’Lesha Lloyd led all players with 16 points on 7-12 shooting. She also tallied four rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot against the Cougars. Tasha Taylor scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half as the Lady Tigers only other double-figure scorer. Freshman Lele Hardy led the team with seven rebounds while also totaling nine points.

Melissa Chambers held high scorer honors for the College of Charleston with 10 points on the night, while Sarah Moye pulled down a team-best nine rebounds.

Lloyd hit a jumper just seconds into the second half that gave the Lady Tigers a lead they never relinquished. After a Chambers field goal at the 18:32 mark, Clemson scored 19 unanswered points to put them ahead, 46-26. Taylor recorded nine points during the run, while Hardy completed a three-point play to give the Lady Tigers the 20-point advantage with 9:44 remaining.

Clemson then extended its lead to as many as 23 points at the 6:53 mark on two free throws by sophomore Susan Yenser. A lay-up by Brooke Kotcella put the College of Charleston with 15 at 55-40 with five minutes remaining. However, the Cougars would only manage two additional points, as the Lady Tigers closed out the game on a 9-2 run.

Both teams started slow in the first half as neither team hit double figures until over 12 minutes into the period. The College of Charleston went ahead by five points at 14-9 on a three-point field goal by Kotcella. Carrie Whitehurst then hit a three-pointer on the Clemson end of the court to cut the lead to two, and a lay-up by Christy Brown on the Lady Tigers’ next possession tied the score at 14-14.

The teams were knotted for the seventh time in the half at 17-17 before the College of Charleston went ahead for the remainder of the period and led 24-23 at the break.

The Lady Tigers were 24-63 from the field for a .381 percentage, while the Cougars managed a 27.4% figure on 17-62 shooting.

Clemson will return to action on Thursday night as they will play host to Chattanooga. The game is slated for a 7:00 pm tip-off at Littlejohn Coliseum.