MORROW, Ga. – Lander's Mukia Myrick scored 20 points and teammate Shannon McKever added a double-double Monday afternoon, leading the Lady Bearcats to a 94-68 non-conference women's basketball victory over Talladega College in the Clayton State Holiday Classic.
The Lady Bearcats, playing their first game in two weeks, improved to 5-2 with the victory. Talladega fell to 3-5. Lander will face another Alabama school, Stillman College, Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 in the tournament at Clayton State University.
The Lady Bearcats were sizzling from behind the 3-point arc, hitting 11 of their first 16 attempts before finishing 12 out of 20. Myrick hit five 3-pointers, Jasmine Judge and Brianna Webb made three apiece, and Brittni Johnson one.
Myrick scored 17 of her game-high 20 points in the first half. McKever scored 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor while adding 11 rebounds and three blocked shots. Judge added 15 points for the Lady Bearcats, TaSheba Butler scored 12 points, and Webb came off the bench in the second half to score nine points. Nardia Robbins led Lander with six assists while Myrick added five. Judge led the team with three steals.
Nikole Ramos led the Tornados with 18 points, Shakila Cole and Tamiko Rounds had 13 points apiece, and Morgan Bennett added a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Ramos made four 3-pointers while Cole nailed three.
Lander scored the first 10 points of the second half to extend a 47-38 halftime lead. McKever had two baskets and a blocked shot, and Ciara Lyons scored twice during the 10-0 run, making it 57-38. Talladega hit a couple of long 3-pointers to cut into its deficit. But Judge responded with two 3-pointers, extending Lander's leads to 66-46 and then 69-52 with 9:03 to go.
Webb hit three 3-pointers down the stretch and Johnson added one to help the Lady Bearcats expand their lead. The final margin of 26 points was Lander's largest advantage of the game.
The Lady Bearcats trailed 6-0 and Talladega still led, 24-23, on Cole's lay-up with nine minutes left before halftime. Lander took the lead for good, 25-24, on Myrick's basket at the 8:37 mark. The Lady Bearcats still led by only two, 37-35, with two-plus minutes to go before building on their lead on Judge's two 3s for the nine-point halftime lead. Lander hit six of eight from behind the 3-point line in the first half.
For the game, the Lady Bearcats made 38 of 72 shots (53 percent) from the floor, 12 of 20 from beyond the arc (60 percent), but only six of 12 free throws (50 percent). Talladega hit 25 of 63 shots from the floor (40 percent), 10 of 23 from beyond the arc (44 percent), and eight of 16 from the stripe (50 percent). Lander out-rebounded the Tornados 44-35. The Lady Bearcats forced 22 turnovers while committing 16. Lander also had 25 assists.
