FLORENCE - The second-ranked Lander women's basketball team battled back from a 10-point deficit in the second half to defeat Francis Marion, 86-81, Wednesday night in a Peach Belt Conference game in the Smith University Center.
Lander remains undefeated at 14-0 and improved to 4-0 in the PBC. FMU drops to 7-4, 0-3.
Shannon McKever, who posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, became Lander's all-time career record holder in blocked shots when she recorded six and surpassed Kristine McPherson's record of 231. McKever entered the game tied with McPherson.
Brittni Johnson and Mukia Myrick led the Lady Bearcats in scoring with 21 and 20 points respectively, while Ciara Lyons added 16. Myrick also grabbed seven rebounds. Johnson connected on 7-of-8 field goals, including 3-of-4 three pointers, and also made 4-of-6 free throws. Myrick was 7-of-13 from the field and 5-of-7 from the foul line.
Francis Marion was led by Shannon Singleton-Bates, who scored a game-high 24 points. Robin Colbert netted 18 points and grabbed nine reobunds, while T.T. Belcher and Courtney Mealing scored 10 each.
FMU, which led 40-33 at halftime, opened the second half with a Singleton-Bates three to take a 43-33 advantage with 19:09 left in the game.
The Lady Bearcats cut the margin to 43-40 when McKever nailed two free throws, Nardia Robbins completed a three-point play and Myrick netted a layup.
Lander took its first second-half lead at 46-45 on a Johnson jumper with 14:04 remaining, then stretched its advantage to 49-45 on a Myrick three-point play at 12:51.
After battling through five ties, FMU eased out to a 65-60 lead with 6:46 remaining on a Colbert free throw. Lander regained the lead for good when Johnson's three-pointer at 3:43 broke a 70-70 tie. The Lady Bearcats followed with back-to-back layups by Johnson and Myrick to take a 77-70 lead with 2:02 left.
FMU opened the game with a 12-3 lead in the first two minutes of the game, but Lander battled back to knot the score at 15-15 on a Robbins layup. After ties at 17- and 19-all, the Lady Patriots went up 25-20 at 9:07 on Monica Mann's jumper.
But Lander came right back to tie the game again at 27-27 with 6:44 left on free throw by Johnson. Two more Johnson free throws gave Lander a 29-27 advantage at 5:06.
After two more ties at 29-29 and 31-31, FMU finished the half on a 9-2 run.
The Lady Bearcats connected on 31-of-58 field goals for 53.4 percent, including 6-of-17 three pointers for 35.3 percent. Lander made 18-of-29 free throws for 62.1 percent.
FMU was 34-of-76 from the floor for 44.7 percent, including 5-of-12 threes for 41.7 percent. The Lady Patriots were 8-of-16 from the charity stripe for 50 percent.
Lander outrebounded FMU, 42-37.
