SALISBURY, NC - The Lander women's basketball team rallied from a 14-point first-half deficit to score a 77-68 win over host Catawba in women’s basketball action on Friday night at the Comfort Suites Classic.

The Lady Bearcats improve to 2-0, while the Catawba Indians fall to 2-2.

Four Lady Bearcats scored in double figures as Shannon McKever led the way with 14 points and six rebounds, while Tasheba Butler came off the bench to add 13 points and seven rebounds, Ciara Lyons had 13 points and six boards and Mukia Myrick collected 12 points and four assists.

Catawba was led by Dana Hicks (14 points, 12 rebounds), Brooke Whitley (17 points), Nisha Long (15 points) and Milica Ivanovic (10 points, six rebounds).

The Lady Indians started hot and went up 34-20 at the 6:18 mark of the opening half on a three-point play by Elizabeth Merritt. Catawba would go cold from there, missing all five of its field goal attempts the rest of the half and committing five turnovers as Lander closed the gap to 40-30 at halftime.

Lander rallied early in the second half and took a 44-43 lead on a basket by McKever with 12:44 remaining. Catawba hit just one of its first 11 shots of the second half and had five turnovers.

The Lady Indians retook a brief lead and pulled even at 51-all on a jumper by Ivanovic with 10:04 remaining, but Lander scored nine straight points to take control with six minutes to play. The Lady Bearcats finished the game, converting 7-of-10 free throws in the final four minutes.

The Lady Bearcats connected on 28-of-59 field goals for 47.5 percent, including 2-of-10 three pointers for 20 percent. Lander was 19-of-30 from the free throw line for 63.3 percent.

Meanwhile, Catawba was 22-of-61 from the floor for 36.1 percent, 6-of-16 from the three-point line for 37.5 percent and 18-of-27 from the foul line for 66.7 percent.