GREENWOOD – Portia McCray scored 21 points as the Lander women's basketball team closed the first half with a 21-3 run on the way to its first victory of the season, 89-55, over non-conference opponent Brewton-Parker College Tuesday night at Horne Arena.

The Lady Bearcats (1-2) trailed 27-23 with 5:49 left in the first half before closing with the big run, taking a 44-30 halftime lead.

The Barons fell to 2-5.

McCray scored 21 points on eight of 14 shooting from the floor and also led Lander with seven rebounds. She also paced the Lady Bearcats at the free throw line, making five of six.

Ty'hesha Reynolds added 11 points for Lander while Kayla West and Ashleigh Zandi scored 10 points apiece.

Red-shirt freshman Mylea McKenith made her Horne Arena debut a memorable one, scoring eight points while leading the Lady Bearcats with seven steals and five assists.

Zandi added six steals and four assists while making two of two from 3-point range, while Reynolds contributed five steals and four assists. Brianna Gipson added eight points and five boards for Lander.

The Lady Bearcats forced 42 turnovers while totaling 23 steals and 20 assists. Lander had 39 points off turnovers to only 13 for Brewton-Parker. Lander's bench outscored Brewton-Parker 53-9.

Briana McClain led the Barons with 14 points, Kenya Durden added 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds, Sarah Beckham had 10 points and a team-leading six assists, and Antonise Harper had four blocked shots.

Lander made 36 of 78 shots from the floor (46 percent), 15 of 25 free throws (60 percent) and two of 11 from 3-point range (18 percent) while having a 39-34 advantage on the boards.

The Barons made 19 of 43 from the field (44 percent), 12 of 17 free throws (71 percent) and five of 12 from behind the arc (42 percent).

Brewton-Parker started off strong, taking leads of 7-4 and 10-7 on 3-pointers by McClain and Beckham. The visitors twice led by five, 14-9 and 19-14, before Lander came back to tie it at 19-all on Zandi's 3 and Bre Crum's layup at the midway point of the opening half.

McClain hit two more 3s, the second one giving Brewton-Parker a 25-21 lead. Aliah Burrows scored in the paint for the 27-23 advantage.

McCray started Lander's game-breaking 21-3 run with a pair of free throws, followed by McKenith's steal and layup that tied the game at 27 with 4:46 left.

West got a steal and layup, Gipson and McCray scored inside, Gipson scored again off another McKenith steal, West and Zandi made two free throws apiece, West scored in the paint, and Cierra Kendrick closed the first half with a three-point play.

Brewton-Parker pulled within 12 early in the second half when McClain scored at the 16-minute mark, pulling the Barons within 46-34.

But Lander's lead grew to 23 when McCray scored for a 62-39 advantage with 10:40 to go. Reynolds grabbed a steal and drove in for a layup for a 26-point lead, 74-48, with 4:43 left.

The lead reached 30 on McCray's put-back basket that increased the advantage to 82-52 with 2:49 to go. Ariel Parker's layup with 15 seconds left gave the Lady Bearcats their largest lead of the game at 34 points, making the final 89-55.