GREENWOOD – Kayla West and Ty'hesha Reynolds scored a combined 40 points, leading the Lander Lady Bearcats to an important Peach Belt Conference win over rival USC Aiken 70-56 Saturday night at Horne Arena.

West scored 25 points and Reynolds added 15 as the two scored 18 of Lander's 20 points during the latter moments of the game. The hosts outscored Aiken 27-13 over the final 11-plus minutes.

The Lady Bearcats avenged an earlier loss to Aiken, improving to 10-13 overall and 5-9 in the Peach Belt.

The victory moved Lander into a tie for fourth place in the PBC East Division with Aiken and Georgia Regents University. The top four in each division qualify for the Peach Belt Tournament. Third place Francis Marion is barely ahead of the Lady Bearcats, Aiken and Georgia Regents at 6-9.

Aiken fell to 7-16, 5-9.

Lander avenged a 75-61 defeat at Aiken on Feb. 5. In that loss, Lander was out-rebounded 48-24. On Saturday, the Lady Bearcats turned their rebounding fortunes around with a 38-31 advantage while outscoring the Pacers 19-3 at the free throw line.

West, who did not play in the game at Aiken, made seven of 11 shots from the floor and eight of 13 free throws.

Portia McCray scored 11 points for Lander while Alexis Armstrong added 10 points. Alyssia Watkins, Reynolds, Armstrong and McCray paced the Lady Bearcats with seven rebounds apiece.

Courtney Mealing led Aiken with 15 points, Mackenzie Reese scored 10 points, and Kassy Johannsen led the Pacers with seven rebounds.

Lander made 23 of 53 shots from the floor (43 percent), 19 of 31 from the line (61 percent) and five of 18 from three-point range (28 percent).

The Pacers hit 23 of 52 shots (44 percent), three of seven free throws (43 percent) and seven of 13 from behind the arc (54 percent).

After Mealing hit her second consecutive 3-pointer to give Aiken a 13-9 advantage at the 11-minute mark, Lander's McCray completed a three-point play, teammate Armstrong collected a steal, and West converted that turnover into a basket to give the Lady Bearcats a 14-13 lead with 9:48 left.

After Kate Duff's three-point play put the Pacers back on top, 16-14, West hit 3s on consecutive possessions as Lander led 20-16 at the eight-minute mark. The hosts would not trail again as West's treys were the start of a 13-2 Lady Bearcats run.

Armstrong's three-point play and a Watkins basket in the paint completed the run, giving Lander a 27-18 lead with 4:32 to go.

Amaura Brandt's 3 from the left corner pulled Aiken within 29-25 with 1:07 left in the first half, and the score remained 29-25 at halftime.

The Lady Bearcats increased their lead to 38-31 with 16:50 remaining when Reynolds rebounded her own missed shot, got back out on the wing and hit a 3.

Duff's two free throws pulled Aiken within 41-39 at the 13:04 mark, its smallest deficit since it was 20-18 with seven minutes left in the first half.

After McCray's bucket in the paint upped Lander's lead back to four, the Pacers tied it on baskets by Reese and Porsha Martin making it 43-all with 11:45 to go.

McCray scored on the next possession, putting the Lady Bearcats back on top for good at 45-43. And after 11 scoreless possessions between the two teams, Armstrong scored off a steal to give Lander a four-point lead inside the nine-minute mark.

West hit a 3 from the left corner, extending the Lady Bearcats lead to 51-43 with 7:04 left to complete an 8-0 run.

West hit a jump shot with 6:21 left and two free throws at the 5:06 mark, giving Lander its first double-figure lead at 55-45.

Reese's 3 pulled the Pacers within 55-50 with 3:30 to go. But Reynolds answered with a trey of her own, upping the Lady Bearcat lead to 58-50 at the 3:08 mark.

Reynolds came through again with a steal, was fouled, and made two free throws for a 60-50 lead with 2:48 left.

West added six free throws down the stretch to put the game away.