COLUMBUS, Ga. – Lander freshman Ty'hesha Reynolds netted a game- and career-high 32 points Thursday night, but the Lady Bearcats' women's basketball team couldn't pull off the upset against top-seeded Clayton State as the Lady Lakers claimed a 75-73 first-round victory in Peach Belt Conference Tournament at the Frank G. Lumpkin Center.

Clayton State, which improves to 22-5 overall, advances to Saturday's semifinal round against Columbus State. Lander, the fourth seed in the East, ends the season at 12-17.

Reynolds, who scored 23 of Lander's 34 first-half points, connected on 12-of-25 field goals, including 5-of-10 threes, and 3-of-4 free throws. Portia McCray added 13 points and seven rebounds, Kayla West 12 points, and Alyssia Watkins seven rebounds.

Bena Hanyard led Clayton State with 29 points and 12 rebounds, while Kiana Morton added 12 points and eight rebounds, and Tiayra Green 12 points.

Lander connected on 26-of-70 free throws (37.1 percent), including 9-of-18 threes (50 percent), and 12-of-18 free throws (66.7 percent).

The Lakers were 27-of-58 from the floor (46.6 percent), including 4-of-12 three pointers (33.3 percent), and 17-of-22 foul shots (77.3 percent).

After one tie and four lead changes to open the game, Clayton State built up a 16-9 lead with 10:55 left in the half. But the Lady Bearcats battled back to take a 27-26 lead on a Reynolds layup at 3:55.

The Lady Lakers took a 29-27 advantage at 3:13 on a pair of Morton free throws and held on for a 37-34 halftime lead.

Clayton State maintained its lead for nearly the first eight minutes of the second half until Lander tied the contest at 47-47 with 12:21 left on McCray's three-point play.

The Lakers eased out to a 53-47 advantage with 11:08 left, only to have Lander regain the lead at 56-55 on a Sakezia Kelly jumper at the 8:59 mark.

From that point, the game was tied four times and there were 13 lead changes.

Lander's Alexis Armstrong tied the game for the final time at 71-all with 50 seconds left on a three-point play, but Clayton took the lead for good on a pair of Hanyard free throws with 35 seconds remaining.