Albany State women scorch visiting Claflin

ALBANY — The Albany State Lady Rams’ basketball team got their second win in three games Monday night as they returned home and defeated Claflin 65-52 at the HPER Gym.

The win puts the Lady Rams at 8-9 on the season and 7-3 in the SIAC.

The second half started with a putback from Artisha Holston, which sparked a 9-0 run by the Lady Rams. They held the Lady Panthers scoreless for the first five minutes of the half and went on to build a 48-28 lead with 12:20 left.

Claflin, however, did not go away. The Lady Panthers chipped away at the lead and with 5:41 remaining, Jaquanna Davis hit a lay-up and drew a foul. She sank two more free throws on the next Claflin possession to make it an eight-point game with five minutes left, capping a 20-6 run.

ASU women’s coach Robert Skinner said his team became complacent and it showed on offense.

“Our intensity on offense just went out the window,” he said. “We felt the game was already won when we were up 20. We didn’t continue to run through our offense, we got really relaxed, turned the ball over and they came down with great scoring opportunities, put the ball in the basket.”

The first half featured solid defense from Albany State. They built an 18-8 lead with 9:57 left, while holding the Lady Panthers scoreless for five minutes. They held Claflin to just three points in the last six-and-a half minutes of the half and went into the break with a 35-22 lead.

Earlier this season, Skinner said defensively his goal was to hold teams to 59 points or less. They achieved that goal Monday in addition to holding the Lady Panthers to 28.6 percent shooting. He said it was the closest his team has come to playing a complete game defensively.

“I think we played defense for 30 minutes,” he said. “Twenty minutes in the first half, great defense. First ten minutes in the second half, great defense.”

Holston led the team with 19 points and 12 rebounds and three blocks. Ieshia Young finished with 14 points, followed by Keidra Green with 13.

Skinner was able to go deeper into his bench in the game, and he said there is still work to be done developing the reserves.

“One thing, I know I need to get from them, I need for them not to make mistakes,” Skinner said. “I need for them to keep the intensity up that’s already on the court. More than anything else, I need them to be disciplined. That’s one thing they weren’t was disciplined.”

The Lady Rams must now prepare for their homecoming matchup against Fort Valley State on Saturday at 6 p.m.