WASHINGTON - The second-ranked Lander women's basketball team suffered one of its worst shooting performances of the season Sunday afternoon, but held on to defeat the University of District of Columbia, 59-55, in a non-conference contest in the final game of the UDC Holiday Classic.
Lander, which only made 31.9 percent of its shots, improves to 11-0 overall, while UDC drops to 7-4.
Mukia Myrick was the only Lander player to reach double figures as she scored 12 points on 4-of-9 field goals and 3-of-3 free throws. Brittni Johnson added nine points and four assists; Nardia Robbins eight points, five assists and five steals; and Shannon McKever six points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots. McKever now has 231 career blocks and ties the Lander record set by Kristine McPherson.
The Lady Firebirds were paced by Lillian McGill's 14-point, 17-rebound performance. Kendra Johnson added 13 points, while Stacy Griffith had nine points and 13 rebounds.
UDC opened the game with a 19-7 run, but the Bearcats bounced right back and outscored the Lady Firebirds, 18-5, to take a 25-24 lead on a Johnson layup with 1:48 left in the first half.
Lander closed out the half with a layup and two free throws by Ciara Lyons and two more free throws by Myrick to lead 31-24 with 23 seconds left. UDC's Griffith dropped in two free throws with five seconds left to cut the halftime margin to 31-26.
The Firebirds, who outrebounded Lander, 54-40, got a three from Niqky Hughes and a field goal from Johnson to tie the game 31-31 with 18:44 remaining in the game.
Lander eased out to a 10-point lead at 10:45 when Myrick's layup made it 47-37.
But UDC came right back and cut the Bearcats advantage to 47-46 at 7:40 on a Johnson three.
A three-pointer by Jasmine Judge and an under-the-basket goal from McKever gave Lander a 52-46 margin with 4:52 left.
Another UDC rally cut Lander's lead to 57-55 with 1:01 left on yet another Johnson three, but Lander's Johnson supplied two key free throws with five seconds left to complete the scoring.
Lander connected on 22-of-69 field goals for 31.9 percent, including 6-of-27 threes for 22.2 percent. The Lady Bearcats made 9-of-16 foul shots for 56.3 percent.
UDC made 20-of-63 floor shots for 31.7 percent, including 5-of-19 threes for 26.3 percent. The Lady Firebirds also made 10-of-17 free throws for 58.8 percent.
