Marissa Mandeldove’s basket with 2.3 seconds remaining lifted Clark Atlanta to a 71-70 victory over Central State Saturday in the SIAC women’s championship game in Birmingham.

With the victory, Clark Atlanta (20-8) secured the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division II women’s tournament - one year after finishing last in the SIAC’s Eastern Division.

Mandeldove, the tournament MVP, finished with 23 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Clark Atlanta falls to Claflin in men’s title game

The Panthers fought uphill throughout the game, erasing a double-digit deficit to pull withing four in the final minutes, but eventually fell short against Claflin 69-61 in the championship game.

“They played hard, they played good. Give them their due,” Darrell Walker said of Claflin.

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