AUGUSTA, Ga. - The Lander women's basketball team clinched the 2010 Peach Belt Conference regular-season championship for the third time Saturday evening when the No. 10-ranked Lady Bearcats defeated Augusta State, 63-56, in the Peach Belt Conference regular-season finale at Christenberry Fieldhouse.

Lander improves to 24-2 overall and ties the program's record for wins in a season. The Lady Bearcats finished their PBC schedule with a 17-1 record. Augusta State ends the year 1-26 overall land 0-17 in the PBC.

In the top half of the PBC tournament bracket, top-seeded Lander will host fourth-seeded UNC Pembroke at 7 p.m., Tuesday, in Horne Arena in the East Division. In the West half of the bracket, second-seeded Clayton State will host third-seeded Columbus State. The Lander/UNCP winner will face the Columbus/Clayton winner at 1 p.m., Saturday, March 6, in USC Aiken's Convocation Center. The championship game is set for 2 p.m. Sunday. The tournament winner earns an automatic berth to the NCAA Southeast Regional tournament.

In the other half of the main bracket, top-seeded Georgia College will host fourth-seeded Georgia Southwestern on the West side, while second-seeded Francis Marion will host third-seeded USC Aiken on the East side. The GSW/GCSU winner will play the FMU/USCA winner at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Shannon McKever posted her 13th double-double of the season to lead the Lady Bearcats when she scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. McKever connected on 7-of-14 field goals and 2-of-9 free throws and also recorded two blocked shots. Tasheba Butler added a double-double of her own with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Jasmine Judge netted 10 points. Brittni Johnson led the team in assists with five.

Augusta State was led by Blaire Egardo and Kirsten Stallings, who scored 16 and 13 points respectively. Ashley Brown grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, while Eboni Davis had seven.

After taking a 2-0 lead on Ciara Lyons layup at 19:37 of the first half, The Lady Jags took control and built a 15-8 lead on on a Egardo three pointer at 12:45.

Lander trimmed the lead to 18-15 on Mukia Myrick's three pointer at 9:47 and finally regained the it at 22-21 on a Lyons jumper with 7:37 left in the half.

Augusta rallied to tie the game at 30-30 at 3:04 on Waneta Carlisle's three, then outscored Lander 7-6 in the final minutes to take a 37-36 lead into the lockerroom at halftime.

The Lady Bearcats tied the game at 39-39 with 16:51 left in the game on a Judge three, then eased out to a 45-39 advantage on another Judge three with 12:59 left.

Lander retained the lead the remainder of the game with its biggest advantage being seven points, 60-53, with 27 seconds remaining.

The Lady Bearcats connected on 23-of-60 field goals (4-of-22 from the three-point line) for 38.3 percent and made 13-of-25 free throws for 52 percent.

The Lady Jags were 21-of-56 from the field (4-of-21 from the three-point line) for 37.5 percent and made 10-of-18 foul shots for 55.6 percent.