GREENWOOD – The Lander women's basketball team held UNC Pembroke to three of 28 shooting in the first half and the Lady Bearcats pulled away for a 68-41 victory in the Peach Belt Conference opener for both teams Saturday afternoon at Horne Arena.

Lander has won six straight games, improving to 6-2 overall and 1-0 in the Peach Belt. The Braves fell to 1-5, 0-1.

Breshay Johnson led the Lady Bearcats with 14 points while sharing a team high of eight rebounds with Bre Crum and Portia McCray.

Aarika Judge scored 11 points for Lander while Ty'hesha Reynolds and Kayla West added eight points apiece.

Jazmine Kemp led UNC Pembroke with 10 points and Kierra Haney paced the Braves with seven rebounds.

Lander shot 58 percent from the floor in the second half, finishing 24 of 56 (43 percent) overall. The Lady Bearcats made 12 of 21 free throws (57 percent) and eight of 21 from 3-point range (38 percent) while out-rebounding UNC Pembroke 44-37.

UNC Pembroke made 14 of 52 shots (27 percent), 12 of 20 free throws (60 percent) and only one of 16 from behind the arc (6 percent).

Judge hit a pair of early 3s, staking Lander to a 6-0 lead.

Jasmine Huntley's fast-break basket pulled UNC Pembroke within 8-4 at the 15:39 mark. But the Braves would not score another basket from the floor for more than nine minutes, going 0-for-13 with six turnovers.

The Lady Bearcats, meanwhile, were not having such difficulties. They blew the game open with a 17-1 run, including 13 unanswered points by the second unit.

West started the 17-1 run with a 3-pointer, McCray scored inside, McCray made two free throws, Ariel Parker hit a layup off Mylea McKenith's steal, and McCray added a steal and driving layup.

The starters re-entered the game with Johnson scoring inside and Judge adding a steal and layup, giving Lander a 25-5 lead with 6:21 left.

But the Lady Bearcats also suddenly went cold from the floor, going 0-for-6 for the rest of the first half and seeing their lead shrink to 27-15 at halftime.

UNC Pembroke made eight free throws over the final 4:42 of the first half to cut its 20-point deficit down to 12 at the break. But the Braves were only 3 for 28 from the floor (11 percent) in the first half, making just one field goal over the final 15-plus minutes.

Lander regained control of the game with the first nine points of the second half. Crum immediately found Johnson inside for a layup, Ashleigh Zandi swished a 3, Reynolds hit two free throws, and Reynolds made a fast-break layup off Judge's steal to make it 36-15 with 17:45 left.

Judge gave the Lady Bearcats their largest lead of the game with a 3 from near the top of the key, making it 45-23 with 13:38 to go. Parker's steal and layup gave Lander a 47-25 advantage with 12:14 left.

The lead grew to 50-25 with 11:26 to go when West nailed a 3. Zandi made a 3, pushing Lander's lead to 54-30 with 7:10 left.

Johnson gave the Lady Bearcats their largest lead of the game, 28 points, when she put back an offensive rebound in traffic to make it 58-30 with 6:07 to go. The lead grew to 30 when Johnson scored inside for a 62-32 advantage with 4:23 left.