ATLANTA – The Benedict College Lady Tigers put on a defensive show, holding Clark Atlanta to just four second-half field goals and 22 percent shooting for the game to take a 65-39 quarterfinal victory in the 2012 SIAC Women's Basketball Tournament on Wednesday at Morehouse College's Forbes Arena.

With the win, Benedict advances to Friday's semifinal match, where they will face the winner of top-seed Fort Valley State and LeMoyne-Owen, who played Wednesday evening.

Benedict improves to 19-8 overall, while Clark Atlanta wraps up its season at 14-13.

Santera Grooms scored 14 points and had nine rebounds for the Lady Tigers. Charvez Holmes, playing in her first game of the season for Benedict, provided a strong effort with 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Monique Weathers added 10 points.

Conisha Hicks led Clark Atlanta with 14 points. La'Quisha Lewis had 10 rebounds for the Lady Panthers.

Benedict's ball-hawking defense forced Clark Atlanta into 29 turnovers and recorded 22 steals. Alexus Jones had a team-high six steals.

Clark Atlanta hit 22.4 percent of its field goals for the game (13-of-58) and only 13 percent in the second half (4-of-31).

Benedict pulled away from a close first half with a 10-0 run to close out the first half to take a 32-22 lead into the locker room.

After Clark Atlanta's Shantress Thrash opened the second half with a layup to cut the lead to eight points, the Lady Tigers scored the next seven points and never saw their lead drop below double digits the rest of the way.

After Clark's Denise Law hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 51-38 with 4:40 to play, the Lady Tigers turned up the pressure and closed out the game with a 14-1 run to seal the victory.