GREENWOOD – Ty'hesha Reynolds scored 20 points, leading the first-place Lander Lady Bearcats to an important 71-58 victory over Peach Belt Conference rival USC Aiken during Homecoming Saturday afternoon at Horne Arena.

Lander improved to 19-4 overall and 12-2 in the Peach Belt, taking a two-game lead over Aiken in the PBC East. The Lady Bearcats swept the season series and also hold the tie-breaker over the Pacers, who fell to 14-9, 10-4.

Aiken never led in either game this season.

During halftime, Lander's Elite Eight team from 2012 was honored.

Breshay Johnson made six of nine shots from the floor and added 18 points while leading the Lady Bearcats with nine rebounds.

Bre Crum scored 12 points for Lander, Portia McCray added eight points and six rebounds, and Reynolds paced the Lady Bearcats with seven assists.

Mackenzie Reese led Aiken with 18 points, making four of five shots from 3-point range. Carly Gilreath added 12 points, Amaura Brandt scored 11 points, and Emry Tsitouris contributed nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds. She grabbed 11 defensive boards.

Lander made 21 of 54 shots from the floor (39 percent), 23 of 31 free throws (74 percent) and six of 15 from 3-point range (40 percent).

The Pacers hit 21 of 55 shots (38 percent), seven of 12 free throws (58 percent) and nine of 25 from behind the arc (36 percent) while holding a 39-36 edge on the boards.

Aiken committed 25 turnovers to Lander's 16.

Ashleigh Zandi hit a jumper, Kayla West and Reynolds made 3s, and Johnson swished a free throw, staking Lander to a 9-0 lead. More than five minutes passed before Aiken scored its first points of the game.

Reese's 3 pulled the Pacers within 11-7 with 13:13 left in the opening half, and Gilreath's 3 closed the gap to 18-14 at the 6:11 mark. Tsitouris's three-point play cut Aiken's deficit to 20-17 with 5:41 to go.

But the Lady Bearcats went on an 18-4 run over the next four-plus minutes, exploding to a 38-21 lead. Reynolds scored the first seven of those points on a pair of free throws, a 3-pointer, and a jumper. Crum converted a three-point play, Johnson scored in the paint, and Aarika Judge and Zandi made 3s.

Aiken's Brandt made a 3 with 16 seconds left and Lander led 38-24 at halftime.

Reese and Gilreath made 3s to pull the Pacers within 40-32 in the first two minutes of the second half.

Reynolds sliced inside and flipped a nifty pass to McCray for a layup, giving the Lady Bearcats a 50-38 lead inside the 12-minute mark. But Gilreath swished a mid-range jumper and Brandt made a 3, cutting Aiken's deficit to 50-43 with 9:42 to go.

Reynolds converted steals into layups on consecutive possessions to increase Lander's advantage to 54-43 with 8:38 left. Reese's 3 cut it to 54-46 with 8:06 to go, and there would be several minutes before either team would score from the floor.

Held to two free throws by Reynolds and one by McCray, the Lady Bearcats missed six straight shots from the floor before finally hitting a shot at the 3:25 mark when Crum hit a long 3 to make it 60-46.

Aiken had seven turnovers and two missed shots during an almost six-minute span until Tsitouris made a fast-break layup, pulling the Pacers within 60-48 with 2:42 to go.

Brandt and Reese made 3s, and Reese scored again to cut Aiken's deficit to 65-56 with 57 seconds left. But Reynolds made three of four free throws to quell the Pacer rally.