GREENWOOD – Tiara Good and Tierra Kirkland each had double-doubles to lead Lander to a 97-83 Peach Belt Conference victory over North Georgia College & State University Wednesday night at Horne Arena.

The Lady Bearcats improved to 10-8 overall and 4-3 in the Peach Belt. North Georgia fell to 8-10 and 3-5. The teams split the season series with the Saints winning 85-83 at Dahlonega, Ga., on Jan. 10.

Good had 26 points and 11 assists while Kirkland had a career-high 21 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. They were just two of Lander's five double-figure scorers.

April McClendon added 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Lady Bearcats. Stephanie Ponds had 13 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots. Bryony Crouch added 11 points, six steals and six assists. Lander had 26 assists in the game.

North Georgia lost despite a big night from Syretha Marble, who scored 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the floor. Megan Huffman added 15 points and seven assists for the Saints, who shot 55 percent from the floor. Porsha White scored 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting, Lindsey Kitchens had 11 points, and Rachael Jolley a team-high nine rebounds.

Lander broke open a close game early in the second half with a 10-0 run that extended a 55-50 lead to 65-50. Kirkland scored twice during the run while McClendon, Ponds and Good also scored. Kirkland scored five unanswered points with a free throw, a basket, and another basket off a Crouch steal to extend the lead to 19, 75-56, at the 12:40 mark. That would be Lander's largest lead of the game.

The Saints scored nine unanswered points to pull within 10, 75-65, at the 9:11 mark on Jolley's put-back. Jasmine Collier's 3-pointer ended the run and Good's fast-break lay-up extended the lead to 80-67.

After Kitchens hit her third 3-pointer of the game to pull North Georgia within 85-74, Collier hit a 3-pointer and a jumper just inside the arc to build the advantage to 90-74. The Saints continued to battle and closed within 96-83 on Marble's 3-pointer with just over two minutes to go but could get no closer.

The first half featured seven ties and the teams were never separated by more than six points. Lander had the six-point lead three times, including the 49-43 halftime score. Good had 14 points and five assists for the Lady Bearcats in the first half, while Kirkland added 12 points. Marble had 16 points in the first half for North Georgia.

For the game, Lander made 35 of 74 shots from the floor (47 percent), 20 of 28 free throws (71 percent), and 7 of 17 from 3-point range (41 percent). The Saints made 35 of 64 shots from the floor (55 percent), 8 of 17 free throws (47 percent), and 5 of 13 from behind the arc (39 percent). Each team had 39 rebounds while the Lady Bearcats forced 23 turnovers while committing only 11.