GREENWOOD – Mylea McKenith scored a career-high 29 points as the Lander Lady Bearcats used a 9-0 run down the stretch to avenge last year's Peach Belt Conference Tournament loss to Georgia College, beating the Bobcats 80-74 in the first round of the PBC Tournament Saturday afternoon at Horne Arena.

The Peach Belt East Division champion Lady Bearcats improved to 23-6 overall and advance to the Tournament semifinals. Georgia College finished its season 16-13.

The PBC Tournament semifinals and finals will be played next weekend.

Lander is the No. 1 seed in the East Division while Georgia College is fourth in the West.

Similar to last year, Lander faced the Bobcats in the last game of the regular season and the first round of the tournament. Last season, the Lady Bearcats beat Georgia College in the regular season finale but were upset in the first round of the tournament. This time, Lander blew out the Bobcats 88-64 on Wednesday but also beat them in the tournament. But it wasn't easy as the Lady Bearcats saw a 20-point lead disappear and needed the late 9-0 run to erase a 70-66 deficit.

McKenith made seven of 13 shots from the floor, including a pair of 3-pointers, and hit 13 of 18 free throws while adding seven rebounds and five steals for Lander.

Breshay Johnson added a double-double for the Lady Bearcats, scoring 20 points and grabbing 11 boards. Ty'Hesha Reynolds added 18 points while leading Lander with six assists. Bre Crum added eight points and five assists, and Ashleigh Zandi contributed two blocked shots and a key defensive rebound down the stretch.

Kadesha Gibbs led the Bobcats with a double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Lindsey Reed added 16 points and six assists, Mckenna Rushton scored 14 points, LaRice Walker added 11 points while leading Georgia College with eight assists, and Alyah McGriff added 10 points.

Lander made 25 of 60 shots from the floor (42 percent), 23 of 34 free throws (71 percent) and six of 20 from 3-point range (30 percent).

The Bobcats hit 29 of 64 shots (45 percent), 11 of 18 free throws (61 percent) and five of 16 from behind the arc (31 percent) while holding a 42-38 edge on the boards.

Georgia College pulled within 11-10 on Rushton's 3-pointer with 6:12 left in the first quarter. But Lander closed the opening period with a 22-4 run, building a 33-14 lead. Johnson scored three times, McKenith also had six points, Reynolds made a fast-break layup and a 3, and Crum put back her own miss and also added a 3.

Johnson's jumper gave the Lady Bearcats a 36-16 lead with 8:15 left in the half, matching their largest lead of the game. But the Bobcats exploded with a 19-2 run, closing within 38-35 with 1:10 to go. Reed made two 3s during the run as well as a jumper in the paint, Veronica Ryan also had a 3, and McGriff scored twice inside.

Lander led 40-37 at halftime.

Gibbs scored to close Georgia College within 40-39 in the first minute of the third quarter and McGriff's layup pulled the visitors within 42-41.

The Lady Bearcats responded with six unanswered points on a Reynolds basket off Crum's steal, Johnson's bucket in the paint, and McKenith's steal and layup for a 48-41 advantage with 5:39 to go in the third.

McKenith made a 3 and added a free throw on Lander's next possession to build the lead to double figures at 58-48 with 51 seconds left in the quarter. It was 58-50 going into the final period.

Georgia College was back within four, 58-54, in the first minute of the fourth quarter on baskets by Walker and Reed. Rushton's 3 pulled the Bobcats within 63-61 with 6:43 to go.

After Sannayyiah Johnson's free throws increased the Lady Bearcats lead to 66-61 just inside the six-minute mark, Walker made a layup after teammate Reed blocked a shot, and Walker added another layup off a Reed steal, was fouled and converted a three-point play to tie the game at 66-all with 4:41 left.

A jumper by Gibbs gave Georgia College its first lead since the opening minutes, 68-66, at the 4:05 mark. McGriff's basket gave the Bobcats their biggest lead of the game at 70-66 with 3:23 left, capping a 9-0 run.

Reynolds drove into the paint and found McKenith open in the left corner for a 3-pointer, pulling Lander within 70-69 with 3:03 to go, starting a run of nine unanswered points. McKenith put the Lady Bearcats back on top, 71-70, with a pair of free throws at the 2:14 mark.

Lander continued its run when McKenith made an open layup off Crum's beautiful back door pass for a 73-70 lead with 1:32 left, and after Zandi won a battle for a hustle defensive rebound, the Lady Bearcats ran some clock and Breshay Johnson grabbed an offensive board and made the put-back layup to make it 75-70 at the 50-second mark.

Rushton's three-point play ended Lander's 9-0 run, pulling Georgia College within 75-73 with 32 seconds to go.

McKenith hit two more free throws, giving the Lady Bearcats a 77-73 lead with 26 seconds left. After Breshay Johnson grabbed a defensive rebound, was fouled and miss two free throws, Rushton was fouled in the back court and made only one of two from the stripe to pull the visitors within 77-74 with 16 seconds to go.

Reynolds added a free throw to up Lander's lead to four, then Zandi blocked Reed's 3-point shot attempt, Reynolds was fouled and put the game away with two more free throws. Reynolds added a blocked shot at the buzzer to put an exclamation point on the victory.