MARS HILL, N.C. - The No. 23-ranked Lander women's basketball team led by as many as 23 points with 11:00 minutes to play Monday night and held off a late Mars Hill rally to defeat the Lady Lions, 79-75, in a non-conference game.

Lander remains unbeaten at 5-0, while Mars Hill drops to 2-5.

Nardia Robbins, who connected on 6-of-13 shots, including 5-of-12 three pointers, led the Bearcat attack with 17 points, while Shannon McKever added 14 and Ciara Lyons 11. McKever also had a team-high six rebounds, while Lyons and Kaylyn Small grabbed five each.

Margaret Harvey scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Mars Hill. Harvey was 8-of-11 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from the three-point line. She also made 3-of-4 free throws. Brittni Young added 17 points, Taylor Deal 13 and Krystal Moore 12.

Mars Hill inched out to a 14-7 lead in the first six minutes of the game and Lander battled back to tie the game at 21-all on a layup by McKever.

Robbins dropped in back-to-back three pointers to give Lander a 27-21 lead with 9:58 left in the half.

MHC battled back to take a 29-28 advantage on Sky Assif's jumper at 6:02, only to have Lander retaliate by closing the half with a 17-1 run and a 45-30 lead.

The Lady Bearcats built up a 60-39 lead with 14:28 left on Mukia Myrick's three pointer and a pair of Ciara Lyons free throws pushed the Lander lead to 23 points at 68-45 with 11:00 remaining.

The Lady Lions cut the lead to nine points at 68-59 on a Harvey layup at 8:01, but could never get the lead under four points the remainder of the game.

Lander connected on 28-of-59 field goals for 47.5 percent, including 10-of-23 three-pointers for 43.5 percent. The Lady Bearcats also made 13-of-28 free throws for 46.4 percent.

Mars Hill was 29-of-67 from the floor for 43.3 percent, including 7-of-17 from the three-point line for 41.2 percent. The Lady Lions made 10-of-15 foul shots for 66.7 percent.