Morton has career-high 22 points in Jaguars' loss to Clayton State

By Q. Hughes | Sports writer

The Augusta University women’s basketball team suffered a 70-58 loss to Clayton State at Christenberry Fieldhouse on Monday, Feb. 22.

November Morton led the Jags (5-7, 4-4) with a career-high 22 points in the Peach Belt Conference game. She knocked down six of her 10 three-point attempts. 

“I told the team after Lander game we need a consistent third scorer,” said Green. “I felt like we needed to get November more touches. She was one of the players I challenged to step up her scoring production. She rose to the occasion and was on fire from three.”

While Zairya West and Kennedi Manning have been AU’s top scorers this season, combining for 25.6 points per game, Green expects Morton to contribute significantly on the offensive end.

“It was no surprise because I see the work she puts in on her shot,” Green said. “Also, I like her activeness on the defensive end with deflections and steals.  She scored eight straight points in less than 1:15 minutes in the third quarter.”

Augusta now is two games out of fourth place in the Peach Belt Conference standings with two to play. Highly-ranked Lander leads the league at 13-0, followed by North Georgia. Clayton State is 9-4 and in third place, followed by Georgia Southwestern at 6-4 in fourth. AU is fifth.

“Defensively, the keys were to protect the paint, force contested jump shots and win the rebound war,” said AU Coach Millette Green. “Offensively, we had to take care of the ball, crash the offensive boards and take advantage of mismatches inside.”

Augusta shot the ball slightly better than the Lakers, making 40 percent from the field while Clayton State shot 38 percent, but the Lakers’ full-court press caused problems, resulting in 27 Jaguar turnovers.

“Clayton did a good job of disrupting our offensive flow with their full-court pressure, which prevented us from running many half-court sets to take advantage of the mismatches,” said Coach Green.

In the first quarter, both teams came out demanding respect from the floor. Keeping close distance with one another. The Lakers (9-4, 9-4) led 13-11 going into the second quarter.

Morton provided the first blow with a three-pointer going into the second quarter. Going down the floor, Praise Russell from the Lakers answered back with one of her own. Clayton state began to push their way to end the half, 23-18. 

Augusta not backing down from a fight, scoring 25 points in the third, the same amount as Clayton State did. The Jags trailed 48-43 going into the final quarter. 

In the final quarter, Augusta refused to give up and went on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 54 after Morton knocked down another three-pointer with six minutes left. Not having enough points on the board, Clayton State’s Audrey McElhaney  sealed the deal late in the game with her rebounding and scoring. McElhaney and Timi'a Swanson led the Lakers with 14 points each.

AU is still in the hunt for the final post-season PBC tournament slot, but must win out and get help from Columbus State or Young Harris against Georgia Southwestern. The standings this season are based on a team’s winning percentage in conference games. AU and GSW did not play. Their lone game was cancelled by COVID-19 back in January.

Augusta will also need to add an 11th conference game to be eligible for the tournament. That is in the works now.

“I am hoping the league will reschedule our game at GSW for the fourth spot and our 11th game,” Green said.

Augusta will be on the road today, Feb. 24, against Francis Marion (1-9,1-7), at 5:30 p.m. for another conference matchup. The game will be live streamed on pbcsportsnetwork.com.

AU is scheduled to play UNC-Pembroke on Saturday, Feb. 27.

 “We must guard without fouling, rebound on both ends and value the ball,” Green said of her team’s final two scheduled games. “Our defense must continue to be our juice.”

AU’s defense was very solid Monday, as the Jaguars did cause 20 Laker turnovers.

Contact Q. Hughes at qhughes@augusta.edu.

Note: Photo at the top of the page shows November Morton driving against Clayton State (photo by Paula, Toole, AU Athletics).