ORLANDO, Fla.—The Lander women's basketball team, picked to finish second in the Peach Belt Conference, lived up to their early expectations Friday afternoon when the Lady Bearcats defeated Upper Iowa University, 80-70, in the first-round of the Tipoff Classic at Disney's Wide World of Sports.

Sophomore Kiana Smith led the Bearcats (1-0) with 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting, while Tiara Good added 16 points and LaShonda Chiles had 11. Stephanie Ponds and Shannon McKever grabbed 11 and 10 rebounds respectively. Andrea Butler led Lander in steals with four, while McKever and TaSheba Butler had three each.

Andrea Downs scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead Upper Iowa (0-1). Chelsea Petersen added 13 points and nine rebounds, while Paige Devine and Britney Iredale scored 10 each.

Lander, which led 44-33 at halftime, connected on 27-of-76 field goals for 35.5 percent, 10-of-25 three-point shots for 40 percent and 16-of-23 free throws for 69.6 percent.

Upper Iowa made 23-of-59 field goals for 39 percent, 4-of-13 three-point attempts for 30.8 percent, and 20-of-28 free throws attempts for 71.4 percent.

Upper Iowa outrebounded the Lady Bearcats, 46-44.

Lander will face the University of Indiana of Pennsylvania at 2:30 p.m. Saturday