Lady Tigers Down Furman, 74-66

Dec. 7, 2003

Greenville, SC – Senior Lakeia Stokes scored eight points in the first half and 20 in the second to lead the Clemson Lady Tigers over the Furman Lady Paladins, 74-66, in a women’s basketball game on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2003 at Timmons Arena.

Clemson took an early lead, but could never stretch the first half advantage to more than four. With 9:23 left in the period senior center Orion Wake connected to two free throws to tie the game at 21, then Deshara Shealey gave the Lady Paladins a 23-21 lead on a fast break with 8:29 remaining. At the seven-minute mark Furman had stretched its lead to seven, but the Lady Tigers went on a 9-1 run to pull ahead by three with 4:40 on the clock. The Lady Paladins battled back and tied the game at 36 with 1:33 left to play, then went ahead 38-36 on a Princess Wells fade away jumper that rolled in as the shot clock expired. Clemson answered with a pair of made free throws with 31 seconds left in the half, and the teams entered halftime tied at 38.

Stokes paced the Lady Tigers with eight points, but Furman had the field goal shooting advantage with a 45.8% mark from the field.

Clemson took the lead in the first minute of the second half, but Furman was able to tie the game on seven occasions in the period, the last time at the 8:33 mark. Stokes went on a tear, scoring 20 of Clemson’s 36 points in the period. At the same time the Clemson zone forced Furman to slow its pace and led to 14 second half Lady Paladin turnovers.

“It was another good road win for our basketball team,” said Clemson Head Coach Lakeia Stokes came up with 28 points. We didn’t shoot the ball very well, but we were 22-27 from the free throw line, and that was the difference in the game.”

Along with her 28 points, Stokes set a career-best mark in steals with six. The Lady Tigers were paced by Julie Talley and Maggie Slosser’s nine-point showings and an eight-point effort by Amanda White.

With the win Clemson improves to 5-1 on the year, while Furman falls to 2-2. The Lady Tigers are in action again on Saturday, Dec. 13, when they play host to Western Kentucky.