Box Score By Jim O'Hara

ROME, Ga. – The Shorter Lady Hawks were unable to slow down a potent Clark-Atlanta squad Monday night at the Winthrop-King Centre when the visiting Lady Panthers, the defending Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association champions, handed Shorter a 64-37 non-conference defeat.

The loss was Shorter's fourth straight and gives the Lady Hawks a 1-4 overall record heading into an extended exam break, with the team returning to action on Saturday, Dec. 14 when they host West Georgia in the Gulf South Conference opener starting at 2 p.m.

Clark-Atlanta has now won its last six outings and boasts a 6-1 slate, including a win over GSC foe North Alabama.

The Lady Panthers led from the opening tip, building as much as a seven-point lead and holding off repeated charges by the Lady Hawks and eventually claim a 28-27 halftime advantage.

Shorter, however, appeared regrouped as they took the floor for the final 20 minutes and claimed its first lead of the game, 29-28, when Ieshia Alexander connected in the lane in the opening seconds of the second half.

But that wound up being the last time the Lady Hawks held the upper-hand as Clark reeled off nine unanswered points and with 9:56 to play took a 48-37 edge when Erika Sumpter scored inside. Less than a minute later, the Lady Panthers grabbed their biggest lead of the night when Jomanda Smalls canned a pair of foul shots to give her team a 50-37 cushion.

The Lady Hawks were able to make one last run at Clark down the stretch, pulling to within five, 56-51, when Karisma Boykin scored when she followed up on a missed shot with 1:55 remaining but that was as close as Shorter would get.

Clark's Denissa Law answered with a three-point shot to push her team's lead back to eight and in the final minute CAU hit four of its five free throws to seal the win.

Boykin paced the Lady Hawks, who were hampered by 23 turnovers, with a game-high 20 points, while Alexander added 13 and Lynette Harris had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Shorter ended the night hitting 33 percent of its shots from the floor.

Clark placed four players in double figures as Conisha Hicks led her team with 17 points, Smalls had 14, Sumpter added 13 and Law had 12.