Morrow, Ga. ? The No. 15 Clayton State University Women?s Basketball Team (9-1) held on to defeat No. 23 Lenoir-Rhyne University (8-3), 75-72, Wednesday evening on the final day of the Heritage Bank Holiday Classic.? Clayton State served as the host school for the tournament.

Clayton State?s Teshymia Tillman (High Point, N.C.) finished with a team-high 15 points to go along with nine rebounds and was one of five players to score in double figures for the Lakers, who pushed their winning streak to five games.?

Five players also scored in double figures for Lenoir-Rhyne, led by senior guard Brittany Mitch?s (McLean, Va.) game-high 16 points and eight rebounds, despite the setback.

The game was extremely close throughout, with 12 ties and 13 lead changes, but the Lakers did build a 69-60 lead on a pair of free throws by Tillman with 1:11 left.?

L-R then rallied with a 12-4 run started off by back-to-back three-pointers by Mitch and culminated with a three-point play from freshman forward Precious Elkins (Conyers, Ga.) to cut the margin to 73-72 with 15 seconds remaining.

However, Tillman iced the game with two more free throws and a game-tying three-point attempt by the Bears fell short with nine seconds on the clock and the Bears couldn?t capitalize on two offensive rebounds before time expired.

Clayton State?s Genesis Kelly (Fort Pierce, Fla.) added 14 points while LaDe?Sha Stoudamire (Lake Wales, Fla.) finished with a double-double (13 points and 10 rebounds) as the Lakers forced the Bears into 26 turnovers.

Lenoir-Rhyne junior guard LaCourtney Rann (Charlotte, N.C.) finished with 13 points and senior center Denise Moore (Newport News, Va.) contributed 12 points and eight rebounds in the losing effort.

Lenoir-Rhyne returns home to face Tusculum in a South Atlantic Conference game on Saturday beginning at 6 p.m.