oYOUNG HARRIS, Ga. | Jada Francois Lubin hit a layup with 86 seconds left to give Clayton State University the lead for good as the Lakers rallied for a 55-52 Peach Belt Conference women's basketball victory over Young Harris College Wednesday (Jan. 8) evening at the YHC Basketball Arena.

The Lakers improved to 7-5 overall and to 3-1 in the league, while the Mountain Lions fell to 7-5 and 1-3. Young Harris completes its four-game homestand with a 1:30 p.m. PBC contest Saturday (Jan. 11) against Augusta University.

The game saw 11 lead changes and six ties. Young Harris jumped out to a fast start as they scored 12 of the first 14 points as the Mountain Lions opened up a 12-2 lead on a Carly Winters three-pointer with 4:39 left in the opening quarter, but Clayton State used a 12-2 run of its own to knot the game at 14 on a Jhade Hayes jumper in the paint with 25 seconds left in the first stanza.

The Lakers used a 12-3 run to close the first half to take a 31-24 halftime lead. Young Harris got back in the game as they held Clayton State to zero points in the third quarter. It was the first time in the program's history that the Mountain Lions had held an opponent to no points in a quarter. YHC held Clayton State to 0-of-16 shooting from the floor in the quarter and the Mountain Lions registered five blocked shots, including three by Sarah Woghiren. Offensively the Mountain Lions scored nine points in the quarter and took a 33-31 lead on a Niaya White fastbreak jumper in the paint.

YHC expanded its lead to six points (41-35) after Woghiren nailed a three-pointer with 7:24 remaining in the game. Timi'a Swanson hit two free throws just over two minutes later to give the Lakers a 43-41 lead. Clayton State went 16-of-25 from the charity stripe, while the Mountain Lions were just 5-of-9.

From that point, the lead see-sawed back and forth until Lubin's layup gave Clayton State a 53-52 lead with 1:26 to go. Young Harris had a chance to reclaim the lead on its next two positions, but committed two of their 25 turnovers as Clayton State hit a couple of free throws to seal the win. Clayton State scored 27 points off YHC's turnovers.

Young Harris limited Clayton State to just 27 percent (17-of-63) from the field, while shooting 44.7 percent (21-of-47) from the field. Young Harris edged Clayton State 40-39 on the glass, but the Lakers held an 18-8 on the offensive boards and outscored the Mountain Lions 21-4 in second-chance points.

Hayes led Clayton State with 14 points, while Swanson added 11 and Kelsie Towns contributed 10 more.

White paced the Mountain Lions wih 17 poins, while Woghiren had 15 points and six rebounds. Winters added eight points, while Haylie Shope had seven points and eight rebounds.