FLORENCE – Lander seniors LaShonda Chiles and Tiara Good and sophomore Kianna Smith combined for 75 points and the Bearcats used a 55-33 rebounding advantage to claim a 95-81 upset of 25th-ranked Francis Marion University, Monday night in Peach Belt Conference women's action.
The Patriots drop their first home game of the season after 11 straight wins and fall to 18-5 overall and into a three-way tie for first place in the PBC at 11-5. Lander (16-10, 10-6) moves into a three-way tie for second place. The game was a match-up of the top two scoring offenses in NCAA Division II: FMU at 93.3 points per game and Lander at 88.5 ppg.
Senior guard Brittany Young and junior Evelyn Ruff led FMU with 14 points apiece, while senior Rita Grayson added 10. Ruff's total was a career high.
Chiles led Lander with 31 points, followed by Smith with 23, Good with 21 and 10 rebounds, and
Andrea Butler with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Francis Marion led 17-16 after a Jennifer Dyer layup with 12:41 left in the first half. However, the Patriots would misfire on their next 16 field goal attempts while Lander built a 33-18 advantage with 6:24 left before halftime. FMU trimmed the margin slightly to 43-32 at intermission.
A furious 20-10 spurt over the opening five minutes of the second stanza allowed FMU to cut the deficit to one point at 53-52 following a Grayson layup. That would be as close as the Patriots would get.
Lander led by a 59-55 margin with 13:32 remaining when the Bearcats strung to gether a 10-2 run, capped by a Shannon McKever lay-in with 10:38 left. The lead would swell to 85-64 when Good connected on a three-pointer with 5:25 on the clock. FMU answered with a 13-2 spurt that trimmed the lead to 87-77 with two minutes left, but the once 21-point margin proved to be too much to overcome.
Lander shot 59.3 percent (16-of-27) from the floor over the final 20 minutes and made 19 of 25 free throws. Francis Marion did force 30 Lander turnovers, but the Bearcats held a 28-27 lead in points off turnovers.
Lander grabbed 37 defensive rebounds which exceeded the Patriots' game total of 33.
