GREENWOOD – Playing on its home floor for the first-time ever as the No. 1 team in the nation, the Lander Lady Bearcats responded to an early challenge to beat No. 17 USC Aiken 78-56 Saturday afternoon at Horne Arena as Shannon McKever, Tasheba Butler and Mukia Myrick all posted double-doubles. Lander (19-0) tied school records with most consecutive victories to start a season and longest winning streak, sharing the records with the 1980-81 squad.
The Lady Bearcats also took control of the Peach Belt Conference's East Division, improving to 9-0 in the PBC while dropping second-place USC Aiken to 8-2 in the conference and 16-4 overall.
The visiting Lady Pacers came out hot, building an early 14-7 lead before Lander closed the first half with a 28-8 run.
Brittni Johnson led the Lady Bearcats with 18 points on seven of nine shooting, including three consecutive 3-pointers during an important stretch of the first half.
McKever had 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, Butler added 13 points and 11 boards, and Myrick contributed 10 points and 10 assists while adding five steals. Ciara Lyons also scored 10 points, while Johnson added five assists and four steals.
McKever, who also blocked four shots, passed the 1,500-point mark and now has a school-record of 1,503 career points. She broke Lorain Truesdale's school record of 1,474 points last Wednesday at Armstrong Atlantic State. She already also owns the school record for career blocked shots.
Kayla Harris and Tiffani Moody each led USC Aiken with 13 points and eight rebounds. Daniela Tarailo added 10 points and Moody had three blocked shots.
After Lander took a 4-0 lead, USC Aiken scored 10 unanswered points including three baskets by Hannah DeGraffinreed for a 10-4 advantage. Moody's jumper upped the Pacer lead to 14-7 with 12:55 left.
But the Lady Bearcats responded to the challenge with Jasmine Judge hitting a 3-pointer, McKever making a layup off Myrick's long sideline inbounds pass, and tying it at 14-all at the 10:35 mark when McKever grabbed an offensive rebound and passed back to Butler in the paint for a short jumper.
After two scoreless minutes, Lyons grabbed an errant Aiken inbounds pass and made a driving layup, giving Lander a 16-14 lead with 8:34 left to complete a 9-0 run.
The Pacers ended a scoring drought of more than four minutes on Moody's basket, tying it at 16 at the 8:16 mark.
The Lady Bearcats scored the game's next six points to take the lead for good on Nardia Robbins' mid-court steal and driving layup, Butler's jumper, and Myrick's layup off a long pass from Johnson for a 22-16 lead.
After Tarailo scored only Aiken's second basket in nine minutes, Johnson hit a 3-pointer to give Lander its largest lead of the first half at 25-18 with 3:50 left. Brianna Webb's free throws upped the margin to nine points, 29-20, with 2:10 to go.
Johnson's 3-pointer from the right side gave the Lady Bearcats their first double-digit lead at 32-20 with 13 seconds left. After Triahna Harris made two free throws for Aiken, Johnson closed the first half in dramatic fashion with her third 3-pointer in a row for a 35-22 lead heading into the break.
Lander outscored the Pacers 28-8 over the last 13 minutes of the first half. Aiken only had three field goals during that time period after a hot start to the game.
The Pacers closed within 10 points, 36-26, early in the second half on baskets on consecutive trips by Nakia Pinckney and Harris.
But the Lady Bearcats rose to the occasion again, this time scoring 14 unanswered points on a rally fueled by Myrick and McKever.
Butler started the rally with a jumper, Myrick passed to a streaking McKever for a layup, Myrick fed Johnson inside for a basket, McKever made a put-back, and Myrick kept the ball herself this time, driving in for a wide open back-door layup. Myrick got a steal and driving layup, and Johnson's touch pass to McKever completed the 14-0 run for a 50-26 lead inside the 14-minute mark.
Mia Antoine's jumper ended Aiken's scoreless streak with 13:20 left. Brittany Bowen's 3-pointer and Moody's basket pulled the Pacers within 53-37 at the 9:15 mark.
But Lander exploded once again with a 12-4 run including 3-pointers by Robbins and Judge. Johnson hit her first 3-pointer of the second half to extend the Lady Bearcat lead to 68-43 with 5:19 left.
For the game, Lander made 31 of 69 shots from the floor (45 percent), nine of 18 free throws (50 percent), and seven of 17 from 3-point range (41 percent).
Aiken hit 23 of 58 shots (40 percent), eight of 11 free throws (73 percent), and two of 11 from behind the arc (18 percent). The Pacers had a 41-40 edge on the boards but committed 23 turnovers to Lander's 13.
