GREENWOOD – Tiara Good scored 19 points and made several key plays down the stretch, helping the Lander Lady Bearcats hold off Francis Marion 72-65 in a Peach Belt Conference game Wednesday night at Horne Arena.
Lander improved to 13-11 overall and 7-6 in the PBC. Francis Marion fell to 5-19, 2-11. The Lady Bearcats swept the season series, including a 74-61 victory in Florence on Jan. 2.
Good made only six of 21 shots from the floor. But the Wake Forest transfer guard pulled down a Lander career-high 13 rebounds while adding seven assists. Stephanie Ponds posted 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots. April McClendon added 12 points and Anna Fleming 10 points.
Katherine Kiefer had a big game for the Lady Patriots with 23 points, including eight of nine free throws. Brittany Young added 18 points and seven assists while Yasmean Dixon had 10 points. Francis Marion's 6-foot-4 center Shavone Mack was held to four points but had four blocked shots.
Francis Marion opened the second half with a 12-4 run, turning a 35-29 halftime deficit into a 41-39 lead on a basket by Dixon with 16:20 left in the game. It was the first lead for the Lady Patriots since it was 6-4. Lander regained the lead and went up 49-45 on Jasmine Collier's 3-pointer at the 12:45 mark. But Francis Marion's Kiefer converted three-point plays to close it to 49-48 and then tie at 53 with 9:38 to go.
McClendon gave the Lady Bearcats the lead for good with two free throws, making it 58-57 at the 7:22 mark. After a pair of baskets by Good, McClendon hit two more free throws for a 64-59 advantage with 4:25 to go. But Francis Marion rallied again, pulling within 64-63 with 2:42 to go on Young's basket in the lane.
Crouch's steal and pass to Good for a lay-up extended Lander's lead to 66-63 with 2:02 left. Then Ponds scored a lay-up off an inside pass from Good, increasing the Lady Bearcat lead to five, 68-63, with a minute left.
Kiefer hit two free throws to pull the Lady Patriots within 68-65 with 43 seconds left. But Good grabbed a key offensive rebound off Crouch's missed 3-pointer with 30 seconds to go to maintain possession for Lander and Ponds was fouled with 17.6 seconds left. Ponds made both free throws, extending the lead to 70-65.
Francis Marion's Chelsea Quinlan missed a 3-point shot from the right corner, Good grabbed the defensive rebound, was fouled and made both free throws with seven seconds left for the game's final points.
The Lady Bearcats broke an 8-all tie with a 12-0 run that included a four-point play, a three-point play, and a 3-point basket. Anna Fleming started the run with a three-point play and McClendon completed an unusual four-point play. McClendon made a foul shot but missed the second, grabbed the rebound, scored, was fouled and converted the free throw. Crouch hit a 3-pointer, then McClendon rebounded her own miss again and scored to make it 20-8. Collier gave Lander its biggest lead of the half with a 3-pointer to make it 27-14 with 9:18 to go.
Francis Marion responded with seven unanswered points, pulling within 27-21 on Mack's lay-up with 3:35 left in the half. Kiefer converted a three-point play and made a 3-pointer to pull the Lady Patriots within 33-29 with 40 seconds to go. Good's two free throws gave Lander a 35-29 halftime lead.
The Lady Bearcats made 23 of 68 shots from the floor (34 percent), six of 23 from 3-point range (26 percent), and 20 of 26 free throws (77 percent). Francis Marion made 26 of 59 shots from the floor (44 percent), only one of 12 from behind the arc (8 percent), and 12 of 13 free throws (92 percent). Lander had a 44-38 edge on the boards.
