GREENWOOD – The Lander women's basketball team set a Peach Belt Conference and school record for points in a game Saturday with a 116-79 non-conference victory over Southern Wesleyan University at Finis Horne Arena.
After scoring a school-record 108 in a victory at Converse last Wednesday night, the Lady Bearcats exceeded that when TaSheba Butler scored with 4:15 left for a 110-67 lead. The previous school record was 105 points versus Brevard College during the 1984-85 season. The previous PBC record was 115 by Augusta State versus Limestone.
Lander improved to 3-3 overall while Southern Wesleyan dropped to 4-4.
The Lady Bearcats had six players score in double figures. Tiara Good led the way with 27 points, making 10 of 14 shots from the floor in her 26 minutes of action. LaShonda Chiles scored 25 points on 8 of 12 shooting from the floor, Kiana Smith had 16 points and a game-high 11 assists, and Stephanie Ponds scored 16 points on seven of nine shooting. TaSheba Butler had 12 points, a team-high eight rebounds, and six assists. Shannon McKever added 10 points.
Lander shot 55 percent from the floor in the game, making 46 of 83 attempts. The team also had 30 assists and only 13 turnovers.
Amber Ryals led Southern Wesleyan with 23 points while former Lander players Keunna Thomas and Chinessia Lee added 16 and 15 points, respectively. Ryals led Southern with eight rebounds while Thomas paced the Warriors with five assists.
The Lady Bearcats hit the 100-point mark with 7:55 left in the game when Smith lobbed a pass inside to Ponds for a lay-up, making it 100-60. Butler's record-setting basket gave Lander its largest lead of the game at 43 points, 110-67.
Lander used a 23-5 run in the middle of the first half to break the game open and outscored Southern Wesleyan 17-4 over the last four minutes of the half for a 60-31 lead at the break.
The Lady Bearcats held an 11-9 edge when they went on their first run with Ponds and Good combining for 15 of the 23 points. The run pushed Lander's lead to 34-14 with 8:29 left. Good's 3-pointer with 17 seconds left in the half pushed the lead to 29 points. Good had 15 points in the first half, Chiles 14 and Ponds 12. The three were a combined 14 of 18 from the floor with Ponds making all five of her shots. The Lady Bearcats shot 58 percent from the floor in the first half, making 22 of 38.
Southern Wesleyan scored the first six points of the second half to close within 60-37. But Chiles hit one of her four 3-pointers of the game to get Lander on the scoreboard in the second half and the onslaught continued.
For the game, Lander hit 10 of 29 shots from 3-point range (35 percent) and 14 of 19 free throws (74 percent). Southern made 23 of 63 shots from the floor (37 percent), eight of 19 from behind the arc (42 percent), and 25 of 31 free throws (81 percent). The Lady Bearcats had a 45-38 rebounding edge.
