Box Score FORT VALLEY, GA (February 15, 2014) – It was senior day in the valley as senior forward Briana Shepherd (Birmingham, AL) put up 18 points to guide Fort Valley State University Lady Wildcats (12-11; 9-4) over the Lady Panthers of Claflin University (12-12; 8-6) by a score of 70-65 on Saturday afternoon at the HPE Complex.

Shepherd scored 12 of her 18 points in the first half while leading the Lady Wildcats to a 41-23 halftime lead. The Lady Wildcats jumped out to a 5-0 lead, then 16 after junior guard Davina High's (Atlanta, GA) 3-pointer with 9:47 to go 25-9. With 4:20 left, Claflin's Uniqua Mitchell jumper cut the lead to 27-19; Shepherd's layup with .07 seconds left gave FVSU their largest lead of 41-23.

FVSU scored on 48.6 percent from the field, 44.4 percent in three's and 75.0 percent at the free throw line, while Claflin made 23.1 percent of their shots and 66.7 percent from the line.

FVSU went on a 14-8 run in the second half to increase their lead to 55-31 with 12:19 remaining, but stalled at the 62 point mark with 7:46 left. FVSU did not score again until the 1:44 mark when Shepherd made a layup to stop the bleeding at 64-54. Claflin's Mitchell made the front end of two free throws to cut the lead to 65-61 with .42 seconds left. Junior forward Brittnee Hazel (Loganville, GA) scored the final point for FVSU with .02 second to go.

For the game, FVSU hit 26-of-58 shots for 44.8 percent shooting and 14-of-21 free throws for 66.7 percent. Claflin made 17-of-57 baskets for 29.8 percent and 29-of-43 foul shots for 67.4 percent. The Lady Wildcats out rebounded Claflin 45-39, but turned the ball over 30 times to their 24. FVSU outscored Claflin in the paint 30-20, 14-10 points on second chance shots and 31-25 on points off the bench.

Shepherd made 7-of-14 shots from the floor, 4-of-4 at the free throw line, 2 rebounds, game-high 4 assist and one block. Senior forward Shytina Harley (Tampa, FL) and Hazel added 10 points each, while Hazel and junior forward Carmenonique Dawson (Thomasville, GA) grabbed 7 rebounds apiece.

Karahn Scott led Claflin in scoring and rebounding with 15 points and 8 boards.

The Lady Wildcats will travel to Atlanta, GA on February 20 to take on Clark Atlanta University in a 6 pm contest.