Staff report

SALISBURY — Catawba post player Sara McIntosh sort of pitched a perfect game on Saturday night — 8-for-8 from the field and 4-for-4 from the foul line for 20 points.

McIntosh was good and Clayton State wasn’t. That combination meant a breezy victory in a Southeast Regional semifinal for Catawba’s women’s basketball team.

The 75-49 everyone-gets-to-play romp put the top-seeded Indians in a regional final for the first time ever.

After a rest day on Sunday, the Indians will host Georgia Southwestern on Monday at 7 p.m. at Goodman Gym. Third-seeded Georgia Southwestern knocked out second-seeded Wingate 81-64 on Saturday.

Saturday’s game was decided not long after it started. Catawba (27-5) jumped all over fifth-seeded Clayton State (19-12) for a 25-8 lead after a quarter.

Janiya Downs started slowly, missing her first four shots, but she finished with 14 points, seven assists and five rebounds.

Lyrik Thorne had 11 points and five assists.

Freshman Mary Spry probably had the best game of anyone other than McIntosh. She had 11 points and nine rebounds in 17 minutes of floor time.

Clayton State shot 28.6 percent for the game, including a dismal 1-for-14 from 3. Credit Catawba’s defense for contesting most of those misses.

Catawba also crushed Clayton State on the backboards. The rebounding was 54-28.

Clayton State’s last lead was at 4-2. The Indians scored the next 18 points, and that basically settled it.

Catawba led by 30 in the third quarter.

Attendance was 296.

Tickets can be purchased at https://catawbaathletics.com/tickets or via the HomeTown Ticketing app.

 

Clayton State      8    11    16    14   –  49

Catawba            25     17    17   16    — 75

Clayton State  — McElhaney 16, Davis 7, Riley 6, Lubin 4, Maye 4, Turner 4, Jones 2.

Catawba  — McIntosh 20, Downs 14, Thorne 11, Spry 11, Ford 7, Wampler 7, Baker 2, Svenson 2, Mullins 1.