COLUMBUS, Ga. – All Peach Belt Conference guard Brittni Johnson scored 26 points and fellow senior Mukia Myrick added 21 to pass the 1,000-point career mark as the No. 23 Lander Lady Bearcats held off Georgia Southwestern 74-66 Thursday afternoon in the PBC quarterfinals at Columbus State's Frank G. Lumpkin Center.

Lander improved to 21-6 and will face nationally third-ranked Clayton State in the Peach Belt semifinals at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Lumpkin Center. The Lady Bearcats beat Clayton State 59-57 in a regular season meeting a few weeks ago.

The Hurricanes finished their season 18-9.

Johnson had a huge second half, and made six of 12 from behind the 3-point arc in the game. Myrick hit four of six from long distance as Lander nailed 12 of 29 from 3-point range as a team.

Kaylyn Small led the Lady Bearcats with nine rebounds.

Terra Branch paced Georgia Southwestern with 19 points, Jessica Bivins scored 16 points, and Jessica Jones added 13 points. Bivins, Jones, Adrian Randall and Brianna Walker each grabbed seven rebounds.

After leading by as many as 12 points in the first half only to see their advantage shrink to 34-30 at halftime, the Lady Bearcats came out strong to start the second half. Jasmine Judge and Johnson made consecutive 3s, Myrick converted a layup, and Ciara Lyons added a steal and driving layup for a 44-30 lead inside the 17-minute mark.

But Georgia Southwestern came back strong again, as it kept doing in the first half, scoring eight unanswered points to close within 44-38 with 14 minutes to go.

Johnson's 3 from the left side extended Lander's lead to 49-40 at the 13-minute mark.

The Hurricanes pulled within eight by making three of four free throws before Johnson's jumper near the free-throw line gave the Lady Bearcats a 51-43 lead at the midway point of the second half.

Branch made a 3 from the right wing to pull the Hurricanes back within five before Johnson answered with a trey of her own, extending Lander's lead to 54-46 inside the nine-minute mark.

Randall's base-line jumper closed Georgia Southwestern back within four again at 54-50 with 7:50 left. But Johnson's jumper in the paint and Myrick's two free throws extended the margin back to eight.

Tania Walters converted a three-point play and the Hurricanes were within five at 58-53. But Precious Elkins grabbed an offensive rebound and laid it in, and Johnson hit another huge 3, giving the Lady Bearcats their first double-digit lead since early in the second half, 63-53, at the five-minute mark.

Once again, the Hurricanes stormed back as Randall's mid-range jumper pulled them within 63-59 with three minutes left.

But Myrick came down and swished a 3-pointer from the top of the key, giving Lander a 66-59 advantage with 2:46 to go. After Georgia Southwestern missed a shot, the Lady Bearcats milked some clock and Elkins scored on a put-back to build the lead to nine.

Lander had a chance to extend its lead but missed the front end of a one-and-one. The Hurricanes took advantage, closing the gap when Jones converted a three-point play and Bivins hit a jumper to make it 68-64 with just under a minute left.

But Johnson hit two free throws, Lyons made one, and Judge hit three more to put the game away.

The Lady Bearcats jumped out to a quick lead when Myrick hit a 3-pointer just four seconds into the game. Myrick added a steal and layup, Johnson made a 3 from the left corner, and Myrick hit her second 3 of the game for an 11-4 lead with 17:13 left.

After Randall made a jumper to pull the Hurricanes within 16-12 at the 14-minute mark, Lander went on an 8-0 run to double the score at 24-12. Lyons drove inside for a layup, Judge knocked down a 3 from well behind the top of the key, and Johnson swished a trey from the right corner for a 12-point lead with 12 minutes to go.

But Bivins made a 3 and Georgia Southwestern was within 25-19 with just over eight minutes until halftime.

The Lady Bearcats surged back into a double-digit lead at 29-19 with 5:44 left when Lyons found her way inside for a basket in the paint. But Tania Walters scored less than a minute later and the Hurricanes were within five, 29-24.

Myrick made her third 3 and Kami Phillips converted a layup, putting Lander back in a double-figure lead at 34-24 at the two-minute mark.

But Georgia Southwestern closed the half with six unanswered points, all by Branch, to close within 34-30 at halftime.

Lander connected on 24-of-60 field goals for 40 percent, including 12-of-29 threes for 41.4 percent. The Lady Bearcats sank 14-of-20 free throws for 70 percent.

GSW was 27-of-77 from the field for 35.1 percent, including 3-of-8 threes for 37.5 percent. The Lady Hurricanes dropped in 9-of-11 foul shots for 81.8 percent.