GREENWOOD – Sannayyiah Johnson scored all 26 of her career high points in the first half as the Lander women's basketball team emphatically bounced back from last Wednesday's tough loss, beating Montevallo University 98-56 in Peach Belt Conference action Saturday afternoon at Horne Arena.

After already matching their highest scoring first half of the season with 61 points, the Lady Bearcats put together a 25-0 run in the second half. LU outscored the Falcons 61-20 from early in the second quarter to midway through the fourth.

Lander collected 26 steals in Saturday's game to only one for Montevallo (in the final seconds), forcing 37 turnovers while committing only six. Lander had 49 points off turnovers to only three for Montevallo.

The Lady Bearcats improved to 12-5 overall, 6-2 in the Peach Belt Conference tying Augusta for first place in the PBC East Division. The Falcons fell to 5-10, 2-6. Lander improved to 6-1 all-time versus the Alabama school.

The Lady Bearcats were coming off a crushing loss to USC Aiken in which they gave up a 10-point fourth quarter lead.

Lander set a school record for points in a quarter (women's basketball switched from halves to quarters this season) with 34 in the second period Saturday in building a 61-32 halftime advantage.

Making just her third start of the season, junior guard Sannayyiah Johnson made nine of 10 shots in the first half including six of seven from 3-point range to lead all scorers with 26 points. She also led the Lady Bearcats with eight steals and six rebounds.

Jada Wallace added 16 points and five steals for Lander, Breshay Johnson also scored 16 points, and Mylea McKenith added 13 points while sharing team-high honors with five assists.

Ty'Hesha Reynolds added eight points, Ashleigh Zandi had seven points and five assists, and Bre Crum added five steals.

Jacquelyn Thompson led the Falcons with 20 points, Morgan Smith had 10 points and a game-high seven rebounds, sharing team-high honors with RayVon Christian. D'Miyah Foster led Montevallo with four assists.

Lander made 39 of 71 shots from the floor (55 percent), only 10 of 24 free throws (42 percent) and 10 of 20 from 3-point range (50 percent).

Montevallo hit 17 of 42 shots (41 percent), 14 of 20 from the line (70 percent) and eight of 16 from behind the arc (50 percent) while out-bounding Lander 41-26.

The Lady Bearcats had their highest-scoring first quarter of the season, building a 27-19 lead. Lander made its first six shots from the floor and 11 of 15 overall (73 percent) in the opening period.

Sannayyiah Johnson scored 10 points in the first quarter, including a pair of 3s. McKenith added eight points and two assists in the period, which ended on Crum's long 3 at the buzzer.

Montevallo also had a double-figure scorer in the first quarter with Thompson pouring in 10, including a pair of 3s.

Thompson's third 3 and Jazmine Stubblefield's basket pulled the Falcons within 29-24 with 8:45 left in the second quarter.

Then Lander went on a game-changing 22-3 run, forcing eight turnovers over the five-minute stretch including two apiece by Wallace, Breshay Johnson and Sannayyiah Johnson. Wallace had eight of the 22 points, including a steal and layup that gave the Lady Bearcats a 51-27 lead with 3:45 left. Sannayyiah Johnson also had a pair of 3s during the run.

Sannayyiah Johnson's sixth 3 of the first half gave Lander its first 30-point lead at 59-29 just inside the minute mark. The Lady Bearcats were up 61-32 at the break.

Lander scored 31 points off turnovers in the first half, forcing 21 Falcons turnovers while committing only one turnover. The Lady Bearcats shot 63 percent from the floor in the first half (22 of 35), with Sannayyiah Johnson hitting nine of 10.

Thompson made a pair of 3s as the Falcons outscored Lander 12-4 at the start of the second half, closing within 65-44 with 6:14 left in the third.

But the Lady Bearcats outscored Montevallo 12-0 over the final six-plus minutes of the third quarter to start the big 25-0 run, including Zandi's layup, a Reynolds 3, Crum's layup, Breshay Johnson's inside bucket, and Wallace's fast-break layup off a turnover. Lander led 77-44 going into the final period.

Wallace scored three times and Reynolds added five points as the Lady Bearcats completed their 25-0 run with the first 13 points of the fourth quarter, building their lead to 90-44 with 7:07 left. At that point, since it was 29-24, Lander had outscored Montavallo 61-20.