AIKEN, S.C. – The fifth-seeded Lander women's basketball team upset top-seeded and 14th-ranked Francis Marion, 70-63, Saturday afternoon in the first Peach Belt Conference Tournament women's semifinal at the USCA Convocation Center.

With the win, the Lady Bearcats improved to 19-10 overall and advanced to Sunday's PBC Tournament Championship game at 2:00 p.m. They will face the winner of Saturday's second semifinal between Clayton State and tourney host USC Aiken. The victory lifted Lander to 3-0 all-time vs. FMU in league tourney history.

Lander freshman guard Jasmine Judge netted a game-high 16 points and Mukia Myrick tallied 15 points, five assists and five steals. Shannon McKever booked her 13th double-double, registering 12 points, 15 rebounds, five blocks and three steals. PBC Freshman-of-the-Year Ciara Lyons added 10 points and six rebounds.

Shana Franks and Kevina Ransom paced Francis Marion (25-4) with 12 points each, while Shannon Singleton-Bates and Creshenda Singletary managed 11 each.

The 2008 PBC Tourney champions, Lander never trailed, jumping out to a 36-25 halftime lead. The Lady Bearcats limited FMU to a single field goal over a span of 8:10 and took advantage of the Patriots' 22.6 percent shooting in the game's opening 20 minutes. Lander used a 15-4 spurt over a span of 5:49 midway through the half, building a 28-14 advantage on a McKever jumper at the 6:35 mark.

After four free throws from Singleton-Bates and Dominique Powell got FMU within 28-18, Lander answered with five straight points.  A trey from Judge gave the Lady Bearcats their biggest lead of the half at 33-18 with 3:44 left. The Patriots countered with six straight before Judge drained a trey with 19 seconds left to give LU its 11-point lead at intermission.

Lander opened the second half on a 10-2 run and moved out to a 46-27 lead on a Lyons' layup at the 16:49 mark. The Lady Bearcats maintained their double-digit lead until Singletary's jumper at the 6:46 mark pulled the Patriots within 56-48.

Lander pushed its advantage back to 11 before FMU countered with consecutive baskets by Franks and Robin Colbert to cut its deficit to seven with 3:46 remaining. The Patriots pulled as close as six on two occasions, the last on a pair of free throws from Singleton-Bates.

The Lady Bearcats, who will be making their fifth tournament championship game appearance, drained seven free throws –- four by Robbins -- over the final 1:06 to seal the victory.