Jaguar women finish regular season by edging Clayton State, face Columbus State in PBC tourney opener

By Katron Hugee | Sports writer

The Augusta University women’s basketball team edged Clayton State University 61-60 on Saturday, Feb. 26, at The Loch.

Earlier, on Feb. 23, AU fell to the North Georgia Nighthawks 66-58 at Christenberry Fieldhouse.

The game against North Georgia marked the final home game of the Jaguars’ regular season as the teams’ seniors were celebrated on Senior Night. Seniors Kiera Howard, November Morton, Mechella Davis, Jaelyn Autman, Whitney Watkins and graduate student Zairya West were all honored.

The game started off close as the Nighthawks gained a slim 7-6 lead to start. Then a 7-0 run by North Georgia gave them an eight-point lead with three minutes left in the first quarter.

 The Jaguars cut the lead back down to three, but the first quarter ended with the Nighthawks up 17-11.

North Georgia started the second quarter on a 7-1 run with their 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter making it a 10-1 run overall. This forceed an AU timeout with 8:39 remaining in the second quarter at a score of 24-12.

Both teams would trade baskets as the Nighthawk lead would get as big as 14. However, the Jaguars would end the second quarter on a 6-0 run and cut the lead down to six with a score of 34-28 at the half.

The second half would start as a defensive struggle with very little scoring between either team. North Georgia extended its lead with a 9-0 run giving them a 15-point lead, their largest of the game.

After a pair of free throws, the Nighthawks led 47-32 with 3:04 left in the third quarter. Then, a basket plus a free throw from Autumn Phillips jumpstarted a Jaguars’ comeback.

After another free throw, Phillips hit a 3-pointer from the corner, giving her seven straight points and cutting the deficit to eight. Then, a Zairya West corner 3-pointer extended the Jaguars’ run to 10-0 and cut the lead down to five. The third quarter would end with a 47-42 North Georgia lead. 

AU would carry the momentum into the fourth quarter as Autumn Phillips hit a jumper to start the quarter. Phillips then hit a 3-pointer, tying the game at 47-47 with the Jaguars on 15-0 run and Phillips scoring 12 of the 15.

The Nighthawks responded with a 3-pointer of their own to reclaim a three point lead with 8:50 remaining in the fourth quarter. Both teams would proceed to trade baskets as a Kiera Howard layup would cut the North Georgia lead back down to one at 52-51 with 5:08 left.

From there, the Jaguars could not get over the hump as a 5-0 run by the Nighthawks would give them the separation they needed to seal the game away. North Georgia’s execution and free throw shooting down the stretch were the difference as the Nighthawks pulled out the eight-point victory.

This loss snapped a three game winning streak for the Jaguars.

Phillips scored her season high of 19 points, followed by 12 points from Howard, who also led the team in assists with three and Ashleigh Boulin led the team in rebounds with six.

The Jaguars ended their regular season in Morrow with the narrow win over Clayton State on Saturday.

The game started with a 6-6 tie early in the first quarter.  Then, the Jaguars would end the last 7 minutes of the first quarter on a 13-0 run to go up 19-6. 

This run was aided by Manning, who scored 9 of the 13. Howard ended the quarter with a tough right-handed layup banking in to beat the buzzer.

The second quarter would start with both teams exchanging baskets as AU would take a 25-11 lead with 7:16 remaining in the quarter. The Lakers responded with a 8-0 run cutting the Jaguar lead down to six. 

Both teams exchanged baskets once again to end the quarter. Clayton State’s Jadah Waite hit a 3-pointer from the corner to cut the lead back down to six. AU took a 31-25 lead into halftime.

Coming out of the half, the Lakers started by scoring the first five points of the third quarter and pushed their run to 8-0 to cut AU’s lead down to one.

The Jaguars would answer with back-to-back 3-pointers before Clayton State would cut the lead back down to two at 37-35.

Then, a 7-0 run by the Jaguars pushed their lead back up to nine, forcing a timeout by Clayton State with 4:44 remaining in the third quarter. The Lakers responded with a 7-0 run of their own, shrinking the AU lead back down to two.

AU ended the third quarter with a Phillips layup to make the lead 46-42.

The Lakers were the aggressors early in the fourth quarter as they scored the first two baskets and tied the score at 46-46. This was the first tie in the game since it was 6-6 early in the first.

Waite would continue her host shooting with consecutive 3-pointers to answer two pairs of Jaguar free throws. The first three-pointer gave the Lakers their first lead since the first quarter and the second three-pointer giving the Lakers a two-point lead with 6:41 remaining. That forced a Jaguar timeout.

The teams would start to go back and forth as a Phillips jumper tied the score at 56-56 with 3:51 left in the game. After a Clayton State layup, AU’s Michaela Lane would split a pair of free throws as the Lakers clinged to a one-point advantage.

After a short period of no scoring, Clayton State’s Jessica Maye made a layup to give  the Lakers a three-point lead with 1:13 on the clock. The Jaguars responded with a Manning layup that just narrowly beat the shot clock, making the score 60-59.

As 39.4 seconds remained, Clayton State held the ball attempting to bleed out the clock but failed to get a shot off in time giving possession to the Jaguars with 7.4 left.

After the AU timeout, the ball was inbounded to Howard, who drove left toward the basket and drew a foul. Howard would then step to the line and drain two clutch free throws to give the Jaguars a one-point advantage with 2.6 remaining in the game.

With no timeouts left, the Lakers heaved a deep shot that missed, giving the Jaguars the narrow victory. 

Manning led the team in scoring and rebounds with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Phillips scored 13 points, and Howard led the team in assists with 6.

This win finished the Jaguars regular season with an 8-10 Peach Belt record and 15-12 record overall. The Lakers also finished 8-10 Peach Belt conference record and 14-12 overall. The Jags earned the higher seed in the conference tournament because they swept the Lakers.

The Jaguars finished their regular season winning four of their last five, all against conference opponents. All four of those wins were decided by five points or less and all five games went down to the wire.

The fifth-seeded Jaguars now will play at Columbus State (9-9, 16-12) the first round of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament on Wednesday, March 2.

Contact Katron Hugee at khugee@augusta.edu.

Autumn Phillips had 13 points and 2 steals to help AU to a narrow win at Clayton State. At the top of the page, Kennedi Manning goes up for a jumper; she had 21 points and 14 rebounds in the win over the Lakers. (photos by Madison Keel)