ORANGEBURG, S.C. - The Allen University women's basketball team dropped a close game, 65-59 on the road at former rival Claflin University Monday evening.

Allen senior guard Kash Hankerson led the Lady Yellowjackets with 16 points, three assists, 3 treys, and a team-best four steals. She shot 4 of 7 overall and 3 of 5 from the 3-point arc.

Junior Guard Taliah Wesley then finished with 13 points shooting 4 of 8 with three rebounds, an assist and a steal while junior forward Kasey Smith was the third member of the Allen trio to finish in double figures recording 10 pts with four rebounds.

Allen got out to a fast 17-7 lead after the first quarter as they dominated the Lady Panthers. However, CU fought back outscoring the Jackets 15-6 in the second quarter as Allen held onto a slim 23-22 lead at the break. Allen led 21-12 midway through the quarter but Claflin ended the frame on a 10-2 run.

In the third quarter, the teams traded points back and-forth with neither team able to gain an edge by more than three points throughout the entire quarter as Claflin held a 43-41 edge heading into the fourth. CU, however, would then start the fourth on a 12-4 run to take a 10-point 55-45 lead with just under 4 minutes to play. Allen could then only crawl to within six points for the remainder dropping their first game of the season. Allen shot 32 percent for the game and 25 percent from three while Claflin shot 34 percent overall but only 8 percent from three.

The teams combined for 52 total fouls in the hotly-contested game. Junior guard Maya Johnson added 6 points and a team-best 6 rebounds along with 3 assists while junior forward JuJu Harrington also brought down six boards along with fellow forward Kourtney English scoring 4 points and grabbing four rebounds with a block.
Junior guard Nari Coe scored seven points as well, all on free throws, along with 2 boards and an assist.

Allen falls to 1-1 and will next return home to host Lees-McRae College on Saturday at 3:00 PM.