RELATED: North Georgia Pushes Past Women's Basketball, 59-50

PEMBROKE – Kayla Pryce's free throw with 16:12 remaining in the second half helped visiting Clayton State grab a 46-27 lead, but the UNC Pembroke women's basketball team shot 59 percent over the game's final 16 minutes and used a pair of monstrous runs to blow by the Lakers, 69-59, on Saturday in the English E. Jones Center.  

With the win, the Braves (6-10, 4-5 PBC) grabbed their fifth victory in the last seven games and snapped a nine-game losing streak in the series with Clayton State (12-6, 6-3) dating back to Jan. 20, 2007, while the loss stopped a three-game winning streak for the Lakers.

Senior Jazmine Kemp led the Black and Gold with a season-high 22 points on 8-for-14 shooting and tallied the Braves' only double-double with 10 rebounds, while fellow senior Kierra Haney pulled down 11 rebounds and drained eight points. Guard Jasmine Huntley knocked in 11 of her 13 points in the second half as senior Avae' Hardy was a point shy of double-figure scoring. Kemp also picked up three steals and dished out five assists.

UNCP used runs of 20-2 and 20-4 to key the second half comeback to inch to within one point at the 10:04 mark and again to take the lead for the remainder of the game with 5:24 left. Clayton State finished the second stanza with seven field goals and a mere 18 points, while the Braves registered 45 points in the same time span. 

"We talked at the half about getting the fight back and just really take it to them, regardless of what the score was, and I thought we were much more aggressive attacking the second half," said UNCP head coach John Haskins. "It helps when some shots go down and I think they weren't hitting shots and they were a little frustrated. I thought we did a good job until about the last three minutes on the defensive glass. We weren't giving them any second shots and I thought all that were keys to the game."

Junior Mary Robinson netted the first bucket of the second half with a long trey on the assist by Airico Williams, but the offense struggled to warm up until Kemp led off the first of the two runs with her jumper in the paint at the 15:23 mark. In those five minutes, Kemp and Haney each added six points, while Hardy and Katelyn Mitchell each tallied three and Chandrica Fuller had two foul shots. The Braves blasted out the final 10 minutes of the game to hold a 12-point lead with 00:28 on the clock and secured the 10-point victory with strong defensive.

Despite trailing by 19 at the half after shooting 23.3 percent from the field, the Braves regrouped to shoot 50.0 percent and hold a better field goal shooting percentage at the final buzzer than Clayton State. UNCP struggled in the first half with 12 turnovers in which the Lakers scored 17 points off of, but refused to allow another point off its mistakes in the final 20 minutes. 

The Black and Gold capitalized on a deep bench that knocked down 24 points compared to only six for the Lakers' that suited up eight players for the contest. Key rebounding by UNCP kept the Lakers wanting as the Braves held onto 30 defensive rebounds and 19 boards to out-rebound Clayton State by 10.

Both Yishica Sims and Tiayra Green finished the game with double-digit scoring as Sims logged 23 points and Green had 14 points led the Lakers with 14 rebounds.

The Braves will hit the road again for a Saturday league doubleheader with Georgia Southwestern (9-6, 3-5) inside the Storm Dome with tipoff slated for 1:30 p.m.