GREENWOOD – Audosha Kelley and Alicia Durham scored a combined 40 points, leading Armstrong Atlantic State to a 78-64 victory over Lander in a Peach Belt Conference women's game Wednesday night at Horne Arena.

Armstrong Atlantic improved to 13-11 overall and 8-9 in the Peach Belt. The Lady Bearcats fell to 4-19, 0-15.

Kelley scored a game-high 22 points while Durham had nine of her 18 points during a crucial stage early in the second half. Kaneetha Gordon led the Lady Pirates with 11 rebounds while Kelley grabbed 10.

Shatora Irby led Lander with 20 points, hitting 6-of-10 shots from the floor and all six of her free throw attempts. Jennifer Hukill scored 14 of her 15 points in the first half, while Linlei Ward and Tara Nyikavaranda added 11 points apiece. Lashaundra Dubose paced the Lady Bearcats with 12 rebounds and seven assists.

Ward scored the first points of the second half to give Lander its only lead since it was 2-0, making it 33-32 with 19:37 to go. Armstrong Atlantic scored 13 of the game's next 15 points to take a 45-35 lead with 16:12 to go. Of those 13 points, Durham scored nine on a 3-pointer and a pair of three-point plays.

Durham hit another 3-pointer to give the Lady Pirates their biggest lead of the game at 17 points, 60-43, with 9:50 left. Lander used a 13-2 spurt to make the score respectable with Nyikavaranda and Irby scoring five points apiece. Ward capped the run with a free throw to pull the Lady Bearcats within 62-56 with 7:04 to go.

Irby's lay-up cut Lander's deficit to 67-60 at the 3:45 mark. But Armstrong closed the game on an 11-4 run.

Armstrong Atlantic led all but the first minute of the opening half, but never by more than seven. Tana Griffiths hit a 3-pointer to give the Lady Pirates a 14-7 lead with 13:24 left. But Hukill's third 3-pointer of the game pulled Lander within 17-15 with nine minutes left until halftime.

Hukill's fourth and last trey of the first half closed the Lady Bearcats within 21-20 at the 6:15 mark. Armstrong pushed the lead back to six, 30-24, on a basket by Kelley. But Lander closed the first half strong with Dubose hitting a free throw but missing the second. Nyikavaranda grabbed the offensive rebound and scored with two seconds left to pull Lander within 32-31 at the break.

For the game, the Lady Bearcats made 23-of-55 shots from the floor (42 percent), 12-of-17 free throws (71 percent), and 6-of-16 from 3-point range (38 percent). Armstrong hit 29-of-61 shots from the floor (48 percent), 13-of-16 from the stripe (81 percent), and 7-of-17 from behind the arc (41 percent). The Lady Pirates had a 44-26 edge on the boards.