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COLUMBUS – Putting the finishing touches on the regular season, the Columbus State University women's basketball team dominated Clayton State on Saturday for an 80-53 win. The Peach Belt Conference contest was played in the Lumpkin Center.
 
The lone senior, Machala Raymonville tallied her second double-double of the season to lead the Lady Cougars, finishing with 23 points and 14 rebounds. Tatiana Wayne added 19 points, while Chrisalyn Boston pitched in 11 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.
 
"We did a great job of turning our defense into offense," head coach Anita Howard said. "Our posts did a good job of running rim to rim and our guards did well getting the ball to them in transition."
 
Columbus State (18-8, 16-6 PBC) got off to a slow start behind its defense on Saturday. The Lady Cougars did not allow a point for nearly five minutes while the offense was still finding its rhythm.
 
CSU finally got rolling in the final five minutes of the opening quarter, outscoring the Lakers 12-3 to hold a 17-8 edge after one.
 
Clayton State (14-14, 11-11) pulled back within five at 19-14, but the Lady Cougars turned up the defensive pressure and scored 13 unanswered points to stretch out the lead. Eight of the 13 points came off Laker turnovers.
 
The Lakers scored the final six points of the half and trailed by 12 at the break, and then opened the third quarter with six more and had cut the CSU lead down to just six.
 
The Lady Cougars answered back though, getting a big 3-pointer from Raymonville and a bucket from Boston to push it back to double digits. CSU then pulled away in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Lakers 30-15 on its way to the blowout victory.
 
CSU shot 41.9 percent (31-for-74) on the day, forcing 25 turnovers and limiting Clayton State to 25.3 percent from the field.
 
The victory wrapped up the No. 3 seed for the Lady Cougars in next week's Peach Belt Conference Tournament. CSU will host sixth-seeded Francis Marion on Wednesday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in the Lumpkin Center.