GREENWOOD – Lander freshman Breshay Johnson scored 23 points and the Lady Bearcats made eight of their first 12 shots from 3-point range in a 104-73 victory over rival Erskine College Saturday afternoon at Horne Arena.

Lander evened its record at 2-2 while the Lady Fleet, coached by former Lady Bearcats assistant Russ Gregg, fell to 2-3.

Lander scored 59 points in the second half and had 28 assists in the game out of 34 baskets.

Johnson made seven of 13 shots from the floor and nine of 10 free throws while also grabbing eight rebounds for Lander.

The Lady Bearcats had four other double-figure scorers, including Ty'hesha Reynolds who had 19 points, five assists and five steals. Reynolds made five of eight from 3-point range.

Bre Crum and Cierra Kendrick added 12 points apiece for Lander while Kayla West scored 10 points. Aarika Judge scored seven points but led the Lady Bearcats with nine rebounds and 10 assists. Crum contributed eight rebounds.

Erskine lost despite a big game by Ashley Espinosa, who led all scorers with 30 points. She made 10 of 17 shots from the floor, eight of 13 from the free throw line, and shared team-high honors in rebounds with Marnasha Eugene and Naomi Stuger with seven boards apiece. Haleigh Spaulding led the Lady Fleet with four assists.

Lander made 34 of 80 shots from the floor (43 percent), 23 of 33 free throws (70 percent) and 13 of 27 from behind the arc (48 percent) after the 8-for-12 start.

Erskine hit 19 of 62 shots (31 percent), 32 of 45 free throws (71 percent) and three of 17 from 3-point range (18 percent).

Lander had three 3-pointers before the Lady Fleet had its first basket. Reynolds, Crum and Brianna Gipson hit from behind the arc, giving the Lady Bearcats a 13-3 lead inside the 16-minute mark.

Erskine missed its first five shots from the floor before Stuger's jumper finally gave the visitors points outside the free throw line, pulling the Lady Fleet within 13-5.

Ashleigh Zandi hit a pair of 3s to push Lander's lead to 22-5 with 12:35 left.

Espinosa completed a three-point play and scored a couple more baskets to pull Erskine within 26-13 at the 10:07 mark.

But the 3-point barrage continued with Reynolds and Judge hitting from long range, starting a 17-4 run that would push the lead beyond 20 points (43-17) inside six minutes left in the first half.

Erskine, however, closed the half with a 13-2 run including five points by Espinosa to pull within 45-30 at the break. Lander missed its last four 3-point attempts in the first half.

The Lady Bearcats used an 8-2 run to build their lead back to 22 points, 57-35, with 16:40 left on a Reynolds bank shot, two West free throws, Johnson's basket off a nice entry pass from Judge, and Johnson's driving layup.

Bannerman's 3 pulled the Lady Fleet within 57-41. But Lander used a 9-1 run to build its lead back to 23 points, 66-43, at the 14-minute mark. Johnson made a pair of free throws, Johnson scored in the paint, Judge collected a steal and layup, and Crum made a 3.

The Lady Bearcats extended their lead to their largest of the game, 27 points, when West hit a 3 for a 74-47 advantage with 12:20 to go as Lander made 10 of its first 14 shots in the second half.

Lander hit the 80-point mark on Judge's basket in the paint for an 80-55 lead at the midway point of the second half.

Johnson's three-point play pushed the Lady Bearcats lead to 90-67 with 5:07 to go.

Ariel Parker's free throw gave Lander a 100-71 lead with 1:53 left.