Box Score ORANGEBURG, SC – South Carolina State's Paris Alston and Tiana Hemphill scored 14 points each and grabbed 12 and 10 rebounds, respectively, to power the Lady Bulldogs to a 76-59 victory over neighboring Claflin in a revival of the Garden City Basketball Classic at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center.
    The contest was the season opener for both schools, who were meeting for the first time since the 1996-97 campaign when Claflin edged SC State 64-59 in the ninth and final contest in the series that was renewed with Friday's contest.
    The Lady Bulldogs, who improved to 1-0 with the victory, also got 10 points from Trinese Fox and eight each from Cabriel Duren and Tiara Knotts. Duren added a game-high seven assists, all in the first half.
    SC State's  Doug Robertson, whose team was without starter Tracey Flowers and numbered five new players on its 12-person squad, was pleased with the performance of his squad.
    “Our effort was solid,” he said. “This team is a lot different than last season's group. They play hard, they play together. I'm excited about the possibilities of this team. I'm going to allow them to run and we will have some turnovers but I like the effort.
    “We got a lot of loose balls and did some other good things that don't show up on the stats sheet and I expect us to get better as the year goes along.”
    The Lady Panthers of Claflin, who had four players in double figures, were paced by Ashley Kithen with 13 points and LaTreshia Lymon with 12 and a team-high seven rebounds. Talaya Robinson and LaQuinta Guinyard contributed 10 points each in the loss, which dropped Claflin to 0-1 on the year. The visitors, however, still hold a 6-4 edge in the rivalry.
    Claflin's Tiffany Tucker , obviously, was not pleased at her team's showing and lamented the fact that her players didn't show well on the defensive end of the court.
    “Just look at the final score, it's not much you can say after a loss like that,” Tucker said. “I was not pleased with our effort on defense at all. We didn't play good one-on-one defense, nor did we play good team defense.
    “One bright spot was the play of one of my freshman players, Ashley McKithen. She looked really solid in her college debut, with 13 points, four rebounds and three steals. I think we have a player in her from little Timmonsville, SC.”
    Host SC State, ahead by just one – 22-21 – after a Guinyard layup, outscored the visitors 29-12 in the final  9:45 of the first half to take a commanding 51-33 lead to the lockerroom.
    The Lady Bulldogs scored the first two baskets of the second half on a layup by Hemphill and a short jumper by Duren to build their biggest lead of the contest, at 55-33 with 19:18 on the clock.
    The closest Claflin came after that was 15 points , when Lymon made the first of two free throws with 4:58 left.
    The SC State women return to the court Sunday, Nov. 13, when they travel to Clemson for a 2 p.m. contest. Claflin, in its next outing, host Paine in its annual Homecoming contest Saturday, Nov.19.
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