AIKEN, SC - Tournament Most Valuable Player Teshymia Tillman scored 34 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead 21st-ranked Clayton State University to a 94-75 win over 17th-ranked Francis Marion University, Sunday afternoon (March 7) in the championship game of the Peach Belt Conference Women's Basketball Tournament.

The Lakers (24-6) received the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II national tournament, while the Patriots (26-4) must await Sunday night's announcement of the at-large bids.  FMU was making its third title game appearance.

Senior forward Nicole Mealing led Francis Marion with 17 points, while Shannon Singleton-Bates scored 14, Eboni Fields 13, and Shana Franks 10.  Mealing and Franks were both named to the All-Tournament Team.

Tillman tied the PBC Tournament record for most field goals made in a game with 14.  Genesis Kelly and Tanisha Woodard added 13 points apiece, while Lesheria Stevens chipped in 12.

FMU shot just 32.4 percent from the field, including just 22.2 percent over the final 20 minutes, while CSU shot 50.7 percent for the game. 

Francis Marion's only lead of the game came at 2-0 on a jumper by Singleton-Bates.  The Patriots missed 11 of their first 13 shots and Laker lead quickly swelled to 17-6.  That margin eventually became 40-18 following a Tillman basket with 6:58 left in the first half. 

FMU then responded with an amazing 26-9 run to close the half and went to the locker room trailing only 49-44. 

A basket by Singleton-Bates to open the second stanza closed the gap to three points at 49-46.  However, Clayton State then scored the next 12 points to go ahead 61-46.  The margin would not dip under double figures for the remainder of the game.

"The kids showed a lot of resolve in making that run and getting ourselves back into the basketball game," said third-year FMU head coach. "Clayton State is a great team and very experienced."

"I think our tempos are very similar. They did an amazing job on the boards. I know it shows just a three-rebound differential, but it sure didn't feel like that during the game."

When asked about playing in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, she replied, "You can't trip on anything that's behind you. We have to regroup and make sure this is behind us. We're a really competitive group, so they take every loss really tough. Some of them haven't even experienced double-digit losses in their career at Francis Marion, so losses are incredibly tough. We'll need to prepare both physically and mentally for the regional."

3-7-10 2:00 PM at Aiken, SC (Convocation Center)
#21 CLAYTON STATE 94, #15 FRANCIS MARION 75
FRANCIS MARION (26-4)
Mealing, Nicole 5-11 4-4 17; Singleton-Bates, Sha 6-15 1-4 14; Fields, Eboni
3-11 5-6 13; Franks, Shana 3-7 4-4 10; Tucker, Precious 3-9 3-6 9; Colbert,
Robin 2-5 2-2 6; Mann, Monica 1-4 2-2 4; Bowens, Tiahana 0-6 2-4 2; Mealing,
Courtney 0-0 0-0 0; Coleman, Dawn 0-1 0-0 0; Trice, Simone 0-2 0-0 0; Downs,
Danelle 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-71 23-32 75.
CLAYTON STATE (24-6)
Tillman, Teshymia 14-23 4-8 34; Kelly, Genesis 6-11 0-0 13; Woodard, Tanisha
5-16 3-4 13; Stevens, Lesheria 6-7 0-2 12; Bruce, Latonda 4-11 0-0 8;
Jemison, Jene'e 2-3 2-2 6; Bennett, Timethia 1-2 3-4 5; Stoudamire, LaDe'Sha
0-1 2-2 2; Aker, Ashley 0-1 1-2 1; Metelus, Jorane 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 38-75
15-24 94.
Halftime: Clayton State 49 Francis Marion 44
3-point goals--Francis Marion 6-17 (Mealing, Nicole 3-6; Fields, Eboni 2-5;
Singleton-Bates, Sha 1-3; Mann, Monica 0-1; Franks, Shana 0-2), Clayton
State 3-10 (Tillman, Teshymia 2-3; Kelly, Genesis 1-2; Bruce, Latonda 0-1;
Aker, Ashley 0-1; Woodard, Tanisha 0-3). Fouled out--Francis Marion-Bowens,
Tiahana, Clayton State-Jemison, Jene'e. Rebounds--Francis Marion 45 (Tucker,
Precious 10), Clayton State 48 (Tillman, Teshymia 15). Assists--Francis
Marion 14 (Colbert, Robin 4; Mann, Monica 4), Clayton State 22 (Kelly,
Genesis 5; Woodard, Tanisha 5; Tillman, Teshymia 5). Total fouls--Francis
Marion 17, Clayton State 21. Technical fouls--None. A-830