AIKEN - Chimere Jordan scored a game-high 28 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the Georgia College women's basketball team to a 71-62 semifinal upset of No. 4-ranked Lander Saturday afternoon in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament at USC Aiken's Convocation Center.
Georgia College (21-6) advances to Sunday's championship game where the Bobcats will face the winner of No. 1-ranked Clayton State/USC Aiken. The winner will receive the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Division II National Tournament.
Lander falls to 27-3 overall and is expected to earn an at-large berth into next week's Southeast Regional.
Shannon McKever, the PBC Player of the Year, led Lander with her 15th double-double of the season as she scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Brittni Johnson added 11 points and five assists, while Ciara Lyons and Nardia Robbins scored eight points each.
Jordan connected on 11-of-22 shots from the field, including 2-of-7 threes. She also made all four of her free throws. Dominique Huffin added 19 points.
After leading 31-23 at intermission, the Bobcats took their first lead of the half when Karisma Boykin's layup gave Georgia College a 44-43 lead with 14:27 left to play.
Lander regained the lead at 47-45 on a Kaylyn Small jumper at 12:57 and Huffin put Georgia College back on top at 48-47 with a three pointer.
Lander tied the game at 50-all with 8:54 remaining on a Johnson jumper, then Jordan's three pointer at 8:23 gave the Bobcats 53-50 advantage.
Despite cutting the margin to one point two more times, the last being 59-58 with 5:11 left to play, Lander never regained the lead. The Bobcats finished the game with an 11-4 run.
Both teams struggled from the field the first few minutes of the game and the lead changed hands six times before Lander took control on a Jasmine Judge three that gave the Lady Bearcats a 9-7 advantage with 14:49 left. Johnson followed with another three for a 12-7 lead.
The Bobcats regained the lead at 13-12 on a Krysta Lewis jumper at 11:10, but Lander answered with an 8-0 run on two Nardia Robbins threes and a Keondra Barnes bucket to go up 20-13 with 9:16 left.
Georgia College trimmed it back to 24-23 with 5:00 left on Abby Slocumb's jumper, then Lander retaliated 7-0 run to close out the half.
Lander connnected on 23-of-62 field goals for 37.1 percent, including 5-of-23 threes for 21.7 percent. The Lady Bearcats also made 11-of-15 free throws for 73.3 percent.
Georgia College was 27-of-57 from the floor for 47.4 percent, including 7-of-22 from the three-point line for 31.8 percent. The Bobcats sank 10-of-12 foul shots for 83.3 percent.
