MORROW, Ga. - Tasheba Butler reached the 1,000-point milestone Wednesday afternoon as the second-ranked and undefeated Lander women's basketball team downed Lenoir-Rhyne, 83-61, in a non-conference game at Clayton State University's Holiday Classic.
Lander improves to 12-0 overall, while Lenoir-Rhyne drops to 4-5.
Butler, a senior from Florence, S.C., entered the game needing just six points to reach 1,000. She reached the milestone with two free throws at 19:24 in the second half which gave Lander a 44-27 lead.
Mukia Myrick led Lander with 22 points on 7-of-11 field goals and 6-of-9 free throws. Jasmine Judge and Ciara Lyons added 12 points each, while Brianna Webb netted 11. Butler added eight points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Cameron Sealey led Lenoir-Rhyne with 14 points, while Precious Elkins added 11, and Whitley Culler and Caroline Laughter 10 each. Elkins completed her double-double with 10 rebounds.
Lander struggled early in the first half. After cutting Lenoir-Rhyne's lead to 5-4 on a Butler jumper at 16:21, the Lady Bearcats' next basket came at 12:20, a Brianna Webb layup, which cut L-R's lead to 11-6.
Lander scored six straight points on four Myrick free throws and a field goal by Brittni Johnson to cut the Lady Bear lead to 13-12 with 10:47 remaining.
A pair of Ciara Lyons free throws gave Lander a 16-15 lead at 9:21, then Myrick followed with another fastbreak layup to make in 18-15 at 9:03. Lander took its first double-figure lead at 28-18 on a Judge three with 4:46 remaining. By halftime, Lander would hold a 42-27 lead.
The Lady Bearcats opened the second half with a 15-2 run which culminated with Myrick's three pointer to give LU a 57-29 lead with 14:52 left in the game.
Lander's biggest lead of the game (31 points) came with 10:52 remaining when Webb's fastbreak layup gave the Lady Bearcats a 64-33 advantage.
For the game, Lander connected on 30-of-63 field goals for 47.6 percent, including 6-of-24 threes for 25 percent. The Bearcats also made 17-of-28 foul shots for 60.7 percent.
Lenoir-Rhyne made 21-of-57 floor shots for 36.8 percent, including 2-of-10 threes. The Bears made 17-of-29 free throws for 58.6 percent.
