GREENWOOD – Lander's Jessica Skowron scored late in the first half and Aisha Reid early in the second half, leading the Lady Bearcats to an important 2-0 Peach Belt Conference women's soccer victory over Clayton State Saturday afternoon.

Lander extended its school record for victories, improving to 11-3 overall and 6-1 in the Peach Belt. The Lady Bearcats clinched a first-round PBC Tournament home match. Clayton State fell to 9-5-1 overall, 4-4 in the conference.

Both teams had early scoring chances with Clayton State goalkeeper Whitney Jowers stopping Valarie Smith's header six minutes into the game. One minute later, the Lakers' Teresa Smith-Dack hit the post and teammate Maggie Mueller kicked the rebound wide left. Lander defender Ashton Tatum cleared a ball that got behind goalkeeper Rachael Hine at the 34-minute mark.

The Lady Bearcats grabbed a 1-0 lead with 5:15 left in the first half when a long Lander pass got behind Jowers into the mouth of the goal. Jannica Finnberg collected the ball for the Lady Bearcats and tapped it to Skowron, who put the ball into the back of the net. It was Skowron's sixth goal of the season.

Lander made it 2-0 just 1:14 into the second half when Reed sprinted in from the right side and blasted a shot into the opposite corner of the net. Smith was credited with the assist.

Olaitan Yusuf missed a golden opportunity with 42 minutes left in the match when she got behind Hine, had a wide open net, and hit the crossbar. A teammate collected the rebound and kicked it wide right.

The frustration continued for Yusuf, the Peach Belt's all-time women's scorer with 80 goals, who got behind the defense with 23:40 left. Hine came out of the goal and blocked Yusuf's shot. Yusuf took nine shots in the game, helping the Lakers out-shoot Lander 19-12.

Hine had six saves for Lander while Jowers stopped four for Clayton.