GREENWOOD – Trena Moore-Smith scored 21 points as the University of Montevallo earned its first-ever women's basketball victory over Lander, 63-49, Saturday afternoon in Peach Belt Conference action at Horne Arena.

Montevallo improved to 7-5 overall and 2-1 in the Peach Belt, winning against Lander for the first time in four tries since joining the league in 2009.

The Lady Bearcats fell to 4-7, 1-3.

Moore-Smith, averaging just under eight points per game coming into Saturday's action, made five of seven 3-pointers and eight of 13 shots overall.

Taylor Beverly added 14 points and Shay Bonner scored 13 points for the Falcons. Zena Nasiloski led Montevallo with eight rebounds while Moore-Smith had team highs with five assists and four steals. Beverly added seven rebounds, all on defense, and blocked two shots. Nasiloski also had two blocks.

Precious Elkins led the Lady Bearcats with 23 points, making 10 of 18 shots from the floor and three of three free throws. Ashleigh Zandi gave Lander a spark off the bench with 12 points, all in the second half.

Bria Lonon paced the Lady Bearcats with eight rebounds while Lea Saunders had five assists. Elkins added seven rebounds, six offensively.

Lander played without leading scorer Aarika Judge (17.5 points per game) due to injury.

The Lady Bearcats made 17 of 60 shots from the floor (28 percent), 12 of 16 free throws (75 percent), and three of 13 from 3-point range (23 percent).

Montevallo hit 22 of 48 shots (46 percent), 14 of 20 free throws (70 percent) and five of 10 from behind the arc (50 percent).

The Lady Bearcats had a 41-32 edge on the boards.

After Lander's Lonon opened the game with a basket, Montevallo scored seven unanswered points for a 7-2 lead on Moore-Smith's 3, Bonner's basket and Taylor's two free throws. The Falcons would never trail again.

The Lady Bearcats pulled within two three times, 7-5 on a Saunders 3-pointer, 9-7 on an Elkins fast-break basket, and 16-14 with 10:18 left when Elkins converted an acrobatic layup into a three-point play.

Lander was back within two again when Elkins drove in for a layup to cut its deficit to 18-16 at the 8:15 mark.

Moore-Smith's 3 from the right wing extended Montevallo's advantage to 23-16 with 5:19 left, and Taylor's basket inside gave the Falcons their largest lead of the first half at nine, 25-16, at the 3:50 mark.

Montevallo's lead reached double figures for the first time, 31-21, on Bonner's layup off a long pass from Moore-Smith with 53 seconds left. Bonner's free throw with 11 seconds left gave the Falcons a 32-21 halftime lead.

Montevallo continued to extend its lead in the second half. After Elkins made a driving layup to pull Lander within 38-26 with 16:41 left, the Falcons scored 10 unanswered points and led 48-36 with 13 minutes to go. Moore-Smith had a driving layup and a 3, and Taylor scored twice in the paint during that run.

Zandi ended Lander's nearly five-minute scoring drought, stopping Montevallo's 10-point run with a pair of free throws. The Lady Bearcats had only one field goal in the second half until Zandi hit a 3, pulling them within 49-31 inside the 12-minute mark.

After Zandi missed a pair of shots but rebounded both, she pulled the ball back outside and hit a 3 off Sakezia Kelly's assist to cut Lander's deficit to 53-38 with nine minutes left to start an 8-0 run. Her two free throws pulled the Lady Bearcats within 13 with 7:55 to go, and Emili Russ's three-point play closed Lander within 53-43 at the seven-minute mark.

But the Falcons put an end to Lander's comeback hopes when Bonner hit four of six free throws and Moore-Smith made a 3, extending the visitor lead to 60-43 with five minutes left.

Zandi's basket with 3:03 left were the first points for the Lady Bearcats in four minutes as they trailed 60-45. Elkins scored inside to pull Lander within 62-47 with 1:02 remaining.