MORROW, Ga. - The No. 2-ranked Lander women's basketball team remained undefeated Thursday afternoon when the Lady Bearcats waltzed past Lincoln Memorial University, 76-48, in a non-conference contest at Clayton State University's Heritage Bank Holiday Classic.
Lander improves to 13-0 overall, while LMU drops to 5-5.
Ciara Lyons and Jasmine Judge led Lander with 22 and 21 points respectively. Lyons connected on 7-of-13 field goals and 8-of-10 free throws, while Judge netted 7-of-15 three pointers. Brittni Johnson added 10 points, while Kaylyn Small had seven points and nine rebounds, and Nardia Robbins totaled six assists and four steals.
For LMU, Dayshalee Salaman scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds, both team highs.
The Lady Bearcats raced out to a 10-0 lead in the first five minutes of the game and never looked back. Tasheba Butler started things off with a jumper in the first 30 seconds after a Judge steal, then Lyons sank two free throws, Kaylyn Small hit two straight in the paint, and Keondra Barnes nailed a fastbreak layup.
LMU finally got on the scoreboard at 14:32 thanks to Kendra Holmes' layup. The Lady Railsplitters cut the Lander lead to 10-6 at 12:46 on Patrice Talley's jumper in the paint.
A Judge three at 6:17 gave Lander a double-figure lead against at 26-15 and the Lady Bearcats proceeded to finish the half on a 15-3 run to take a 41-18 halftime advantage.
LMU scored the first seven points of the second half to cut Lander's lead to 41-25 at 18:36 on a layup by Salaman.
Another Judge three pointer gave Lander a 55-33 with 12:35 remaining and the Lady Bearcats maintained at least a 20-point lead the remainder of the game.
LU posted its biggest margin at 34 points -- 76-42 -- on a Judge three with 2:31 remaining.
Lander connected on 26-of-62 field goals for 41.9 percent, including 9-of-25 threes for 36 percent. Lander also made 15-of-24 free throws for 62.5 percent.
LMU was 18-of-49 from the field for 36.7 percent, including 4-of-14 from the three-point line for 28.6 percent. The Lady Railsplitters made 8-of-14 foul shots for 57.1 percent.
Lander outrebounded LMU, 45-30.
