Box Score
CLEMSON, S.C. – Eleven Tigers scored as Clemson women’s basketball downed Alabama State 76-43 in a Monday morning Education Day contest inside Littlejohn Coliseum. The win moves the Tigers to 2-2 to start the year, while the loss drops Alabama State to 1-2.
“I thought the minutes our freshmen gave us – Hannah [Hank] and Amari [Robinson] out there with the first group played a lot of really solid minutes, and really set the tone with being consistent,” said Clemson head coach Amanda Butler. “Overall we were really balanced and had a lot of good moments of execution and a lot to build on and a lot to improve on.”
“I’m going to give all the credit to our upperclassmen. Coaches rarely have the impact in the locker room that the upperclassmen do. I know they got the locker room ready to play as a better version of ourselves.”
Shania Meertens paced the team with a season-high 15 points, while adding a game-high five assists. Amari Robinson turned in her first career double-double, tallying 11 points and 10 rebounds to go with three assists, two blocks and a steal. Hannah Hank recorded her first double-digit game of her career with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
“I thought Shania did a really good job from the beginning of making sure that we were fast out of the gates,” said Butler. “We picked our spots, knew when to put the brakes on and when to keep the foot on the gas. And then overall, both [Spray and Meertens] did a much better job of protecting the basketball – Kendall with no turnovers, and Shania with only one, and that’s really important.”
The Tigers held the Lady Hornets to 29.1% shooting and just 43 points, the second-fewest points allowed in the Amanda Butler era. Clemson forced 24 turnovers, recorded 15 steals, and blocked six shots. Kendall Spray led the Tiger defensive effort with six steals, while Kobi Thornton had three steals and a block.
Leading 32-23 at halftime, Clemson opened the second half on a 9-0 run to set the tone for the game’s final 20:00. The Tigers outscored the Lady Hornets 21-9 in the third quarter to put the game away.
Clemson is back in action on Thursday, November 21, embarking on the first road trip of 2019-20. The Tigers will take on Penn State at 7:00 p.m. on BTN+.
