ROCK HILL – The third-ranked Lander women's basketball team used a stifling defense Saturday afternoon to remain unbeaten in a 70-40 non-conference victory over NCAA Division I Winthrop University in the Winthrop Coliseum.
Lander improves to 6-0 overall, while Winthrop drops to 1-4.
Shannon McKever led the Lady Bearcats with a game-high 26 points on 10-of-14 field goals and 6-of-8 free throws. McKever also had a team best eight rebounds and six blocked shots. Jasmine Judge added 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals, while Tasheba Butler grabbed seven rebounds.
Winthrop's Ashley Cox led the Lady Eagles with 10 points and seven rebounds, while TaQuoia Hammick grabbed eight rebounds.
After a 2-2 tie, Lander eased out to an 8-4 lead on back-to-back three pointers by Nardia Robbins and Judge. A Ciara Lyons free throw made it 9-4 with 15:29 left in the half.
Winthrop cut the margin to 9-6 with 14:28 left on a layup by Mary Hathaway, but Lander retaliated with a 10-2 run which ended with McKever's layup to give the Lady Bearcats a 19-8 advantage with 6:20 left.
The Lady Eagles rallied to cut the Lander lead to 19-15 on Tiffany Charles' jumper with 3:05 left.
Lander went on an 8-2 run – a free throw and field goal by Brittni Johnson, a bucket by McKever and a buzzer-beating three pointer by Judge -- to end the half up 27-17.
The Lady Bearcats started the second half with an 11-0 run to take a 38-17 advantage. Kaitlyn Rubino finally came through with the Eagles first basket at 15:18 to cut the Lander lead to 38-19.
Lander dominated the remainder of the game. Mukia Myrick gave Lander its biggest lead of the game at 70-38 on a three pointer with 42 seconds remaining.
The Lady Bearcats connected on 23-of-58 floor shots for 39.7 percent, including 9-of-29 threes for 31 percent. Lander also made 15-of-22 free throws for 68.2 percent.
Winthrop was 17-of-62 from the field for 27.4 percent, including 0-of-12 from the three-point line. The Lady Eagles made 6-of-10 foul shots for 60 percent.
Both teams grabbed 42 rebounds, while Lander forced Winthrop into 24 turnovers.
Lander will host Montevallo at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 30, in a Peach Belt Conference game in Horne Arena.
