Women’s Basketball Sweeps Series Over Wake Forest With 76-53 Victory Thursday Night

Feb. 15, 2007

CLEMSON, SC – Clemson took advantage of a 22-3 run to open the game and Lele Hardy scored a personal-best 22 points with 10 rebounds to lead the Lady Tigers to a 76-53 victory over Wake Forest at Littlejohn Coliseum on Thursday night.

Hardy was one of four double-figure scorers for Clemson, which now owns a 12-14 overall record with a 4-7 mark in ACC action. Christy Brown and Moreemi Davis each totaled 11, while D’Lesha Lloyd scored 10 on the night.

Carrie Whitehurst led the Lady Tigers in rebounding with a career-high 12 boards and also posted eight points against the Deacs.

“I’m happy with the overall effort of our team,” Head Coach Cristy McKinney said. “We played a great first half. We showed consistency in our shooting, which has been a goal all season.”

“The players stepped up and made great plays.”

Yolanda Lavender had a team-best 16 points for the Demon Deacons (9-16, 0-11 ACC), while Courteney Morris pulled down 10 rebounds in the effort.

Hardy knocked down five three-pointers in the first half, including three in the first 5:21 of the game to put her team up by a 19-3 margin.

“After I made the second one, I started feeling really good and the shots kept falling,” Hardy said.

A three by Susan Yenser at the 12:19 mark gave the Lady Tigers the 22-3 lead before the Wake Forest offense started to convert baskets. However, Clemson continued to drain its own shots and went up by 28 with 3:46 remaining in the period, as a Lloyd jumper made it 46-18. The Lady Tigers then extended the lead to 30 points at 50-20 after Brown hit a field goal at the 1:25 point. The end of the half saw the Lady Tigers on top, 52-23, setting a season-high for first half points.

The scoring in the second half was not as plentiful as in the first, but Clemson managed to widen the gap to as many as 35 points (63-28), the largest advantage for the Lady Tigers this season, on a short jumper from the wing by Whitehurst with 12:26 remaining. The Clemson lead reached 35 a second time at 69-34 as Davis converted a shot in the paint five minutes later.

However, the Demon Deacons held the Lady Tigers to just seven points in the final 7:23 to end the game on a 19-7 run that cut the Clemson lead to the ultimate 76-53 margin.

Overall, the Lady Tigers were 8-for-20 from behind the arc to tie their season high, while holding the Demon Deacons to just 3-of-25 on three-pointers.

Tasha Taylor did not start Thursday’s game and played just three minutes due to an illness, ending a run of 65 straight starts for the junior guard.

Up next for Clemson is a trip to Atlanta, GA to take on the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech. The teams are scheduled for a 7:00 pm tip-off in a televised contest on Monday, Feb. 19.