ATLANTA, Georgia -- Conisha Hicks was named MVP of the 2013 SIAC Women’s Basketball Tournament, as she had game highs of 20 points, seven assists, and five steals to lead #2E Clark Atlanta over #1E Benedict College 75-58 Saturday evening in the SIAC Women's Championship Game played at Morehouse College's Frank L. Forbes Arena.The win secured Clark Atlanta's first SIAC Tournament Championship since 1999 and fifth in school history. Lady Panther's head coach Vanessa Moore said afterwards that she knew her team was special.
“They’ve been talking about it for a long time,” Moore said. “They’ve been talking about the possibilities of winning a championship. It’s always one of our three goals: academic goals, championships, and community service off the floor. But, I think that we really put it all together this year. The team was mature. I knew it would be tough, and we went through hard knocks throughout the season. But, in the way that we played some of our non-conference games, I knew that we had a good team. There was never a doubt. Every time we walked off the floor, we earned a little bit more respect.”
Tag-teaming Hick's performance was La’Quisha Lewis, who recorded a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Ten of those rebounds were on the defensive end, and were a contributing cause to the Lady Tigers shooting just 17 percent from the field in the opening half (5-of-28). Lewis, along with her teammate Hicks were named to the all-tournament team.
For Benedict, London Richardson led the team with highs of 18 points and eight rebounds. Monique Weathers also had 13 points, and both players were also named to the all-tournament team.
Both teams traded baskets to start the game, but Clark Atlanta exploded on a 20-6 run to take a commanding 22-8 lead with 11:53 remaining before halftime. Momentarily, the Lady Tigers roared back into the contest with an 11-0 run of their own, and CAU’s lead was trimmed down to 22-19 with under seven minute to play in the opening half.
Courtesy Paul Brown
For a minute, it looked as if the momentum was going to shift in favor of Benedict, until Hicks took matters into her own hands. Against Benedict full-court pressure defense, the 5-foot-4 junior guard used her speed and fearless demeanor to score several transition baskets, while setting her teammates up with layups as the double-teams cavorted her. In result, Clark Atlanta opened up a massive lead that they would refuse to relinquish.
“Well, I knew that they were going to put pressure on me, and I was prepared for it,” Hicks said.
“So, I just knew that my teammates needed me. I stepped to the ball. I took control, and we came out with a victory. I learned through the playoffs I played in my freshman year and my sophomore year. After watching these other teams celebrate, we have a great team, and I just wanted to feel that win. Feel it! That’s all I wanted.”
After a strong defensive showing in the first half, where CAU held the Lady Tigers to just 17.9 percent shooting, the Lady Panthers switched up the routine by shooting lights out in the second half, as they shot 68.2 percent from the floor.
In addition to the four players from tonight’s game making the SIAC All-Tournament team, Ashley Watts from Paine College was the fifth member added to the squad. She scored a tournament high 29 points during her second game inside Frank Forbes Arena.
2013 SIAC Basketball Champions: Clark Atlanta Lady Panthers
2013 SIAC Basketball Tournament Runners Up: Benedict College Lady Tigers
2013 SIAC All-Tournament Team
| Name | Position | Class | School |
| Conisha Hicks | Guard | Junior | Clark Atlanta |
| La'Quisha Lewis | Forward | Senior | Clark Atlanta |
| London Richardson | Guard | Sophomore | Benedict |
| Monique Weathers | Guard | Senior | Benedict |
| Ashley Watts | Guard | Sophomore | Paine |
2013 SIAC Basketball Tournament Most Valuable Player
Conisha Hicks, Clark Atlanta
2013 SIAC Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Coach
Vanessa Moore, Clark Atlanta
COURTESY THESIAC.COM
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