GREENWOOD – The Lander women are sure to face serious challenges to their No. 1 ranking, and the first scare came Thursday night. But Nardia Robbins sparked the Lady Bearcats to a 9-0 run during the game's final two minutes as Lander survived Columbus State 70-63 to break school records for consecutive wins to start a season (20) and longest winning streak in program history.
Lander improved to 20-0 overall and 10-0 in the Peach Belt Conference. The consecutive wins and best start eclipsed the 1980-81 Lander Lady Senators team which started out 19-0.
The Lady Cougars fell to 10-7 overall and 3-5 in the PBC. But they looked anything like a below .500 Peach Belt team Thursday.
In the final two minutes, Robbins hit a go-ahead 3-point basket, had two defensive rebounds, an assist, and three free throws. The game was tied at 61 going into the final two minutes.
Tasheba Butler paced the Lady Bearcats with a double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Ciara Lyons also scored 15 points.
Shannon McKever added 14 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots for Lander. Jasmine Judge added 13 points, Mukia Myrick had a game-high seven assists, Lyons had five assists and five steals, and Robbins had five assists.
Columbus State, led by former Lander coach Jonathan Norton, was paced by Tandria Milton's 15 points while Asha Alexander added 10 points. But the biggest surprise was the Cougars' huge 58-39 advantage on the boards.
Dominique Gilbert led Columbus with 14 rebounds, Lauren Matheney and Carrie Washington grabbed 10 boards apiece, and Alexander added nine.
The Lady Bearcats were in serious jeopardy of losing their first game of the season when Columbus State used a dominant 16-4 run to take a 51-47 lead under the 12-minute mark, and the Cougars still led by four, 55-51, on Washington's basket with 8:35 left.
But McKever started a 9-0 run with a layup, Lyons hit a game-tying layup off Judge's back-court steal to tie the game at 55-all with 7:55 to go, McKever made one of two free throws, and Myrick and Lyons scored to complete the run as the Lady Bearcats were up 60-55 at the 6:13 mark.
But Columbus never gave in to any of Lander's runs. Alexander's mid-range jumper would pull the Cougars within 61-59 with 4:37 left, and Alexander's put-back tied it at 61 with 2:43 to go.
After the Lady Bearcats missed a shot, Columbus had a chance to take the lead. But the Cougars were called for a five-second violation trying to inbound the ball under their basket with 2:02 left.
Lander worked the ball around on the ensuing possession and Myrick found Robbins open for a long 3-pointer at the top of the key, giving the Lady Bearcats a 64-61 lead with 1:33 to go.
Columbus's Gilbert missed a layup with around a minute to go and the ball rebounded long out to the right to Robbins. Lander milked a few seconds off the clock, then Robbins passed inside to McKever for a layup and a 66-61 Lady Bearcat lead with 35.7 seconds to go.
Marah Wright's 3-point attempt bounced off the backboard and Robbins was there for another defensive rebound. Robbins was fouled and hit two free throws, upping the lead to 68-61 at the 25-second mark.
McKever and Robbins would each add free throws for Lander's final points. Columbus scored a basket in the game's final 10 seconds.
The Lady Bearcats broke a 35-all halftime tie with the first eight points of the second half. Lyons scored the first five points of the run, then she got a back-court steal and passed to Judge for a 3-pointer and a 43-35 lead.
The unfazed Cougars stormed back with a 10-1 run, including Marina DeFoor's 3-pointer and Milton's go-ahead three-point play, giving Columbus a 45-44 lead at the 14:53 mark.
Lander regained the lead on Judge's fourth 3-pointer of the game, but Wright's 3-pointer and Milton's free throw gave the Cougars a 49-47 lead with 13:36 to go.
After Columbus had a brief early lead of 6-4, Lander responded with Butler's consecutive mid-range jumpers and Judge's 3-pointer to take an 11-7 advantage.
Matheney's layup drew the Cougars within 15-13, but Judge hit another 3-pointer and Lyons made two free throws to up Lander's lead to 20-13.
Columbus closed within 20-18 when Baleigh Coley hit a jumper and a 3-pointer. The Cougars would pull even on Gilbert's basket in the paint, making it 22-all with 9:17 to go.
Columbus twice had possessions with a chance to take a lead, but both ended in turnovers. Lyons scored inside to give the Lady Bearcats the lead again, starting a 7-2 run for a 29-24 advantage.
But the Cougars kept on coming, closing within a possession when Milton banked in a 3-pointer. Lander went back up by five, but DeFoor's trey and Matheney's free throw cut the visitor deficit to one, 32-31, with 1:30 left in the first half.
Columbus finally regained the lead on Alexander's layup and added Bradford's two free throws for a 35-32 lead with under a minute to go. It was the visiting team's biggest lead of the game.
Lander closed the half with a game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer when Robbins, falling out of bounds, found Brianna Webb open in the left corner to tie the game at 35-all entering halftime.
Statistically, the Lady Bearcats made 25 of 63 shots from the floor (40 percent), only 14 of 27 free throws (52 percent), and six of 16 from 3-point range (38 percent).
Columbus hit 24 of 72 shots (33 percent), 10 of 15 free throws (75 percent) and five of 19 from behind the arc (26 percent).
