COLUMBUS, Ga. – Peach Belt Conference Tournament MVP Bre Crum scored 18 of her 25 points in the second half as the Lander Lady Bearcats proved Sunday that they are without a doubt the league's best team.

Lander clinched a berth in the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament with a 72-68 victory over Columbus State to win the Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship. Crum put the Lady Bearcats in the lead for good with 41 seconds to go.

The win came on Columbus's home floor, handing the Cougars their only loss of the season at the Frank G. Lumpkin Center.

The PBC East Division champion Lady Bearcats improved to 25-6 with their 13th consecutive victory, avenging their last loss.

PBC West Division winner Columbus fell to 24-5.

Lander was making its sixth appearance in the PBC championship game and also won the title in 1999, 2008 and 2009.

The victory was also Kevin Pederson's 300th career win as a head coach. Pederson has now won 212 games in 11 seasons at Lander

Crum posted a double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds, Breshay Johnson added 16 points and eight boards for the Lady Bearcats, and Ty'Hesha Reynolds scored 14 points.

Columbus's Michelle Mitchell led all scorers with 30 points while Ashley Asouzu added 17 points and nine rebounds.

Lander made 26 of 52 shots from the floor (50 percent), 15 of 19 free throws (79 percent) and five of 16 from behind the arc (31 percent).

Columbus hit 29 of 66 shots (44 percent), eight of 16 free throws (50 percent) and two of 11 from 3-point range (18 percent) while holding a slim 35-33 edge on the boards.

Reynolds hit a 3-pointer to give Lander a 7-0 advantage with 7:21 left in the opening quarter and Mylea McKenith's basket increased the lead to 18-8 at the 1:24 mark. The Lady Bearcats led 18-11 after one period.

McKenith's free throws gave Lander a 22-13 lead two minutes into the second quarter. Britteny Tatum's basket pulled Columbus within 25-23 at the 4:38 mark. But the lead was back to nine, 34-25, with 1:28 until halftime on a pair of Johnson free throws.

The Lady Bearcats led 36-30 at the intermission.

Ashleigh Zandi's 3 gave Lander a 41-34 just inside the eight-minute mark of the third quarter and Crum grabbed a defensive rebound and drove the length of the floor for a layup to make it 45-36 with 6:12 to go.

Asouzu's three-point play followed by Mitchell's short jumper from the left side pulled the Cougars within 47-43 with 4:15 left. But Crum's three-point play extended Lander's lead to 50-43.

Crum answered Tatum's 3 with yet another three-point play, giving her 10 consecutive Lady Bearcats points and the lead was 53-46 with 2:21 left. Zandi ended Crum's points run with her second 3 of the quarter, upping Lander's lead to nine at 56-47.

The Lady Bearcats led 58-51 going into the final quarter.

Asouzu's baseline jumper pulled Columbus within 60-55 with 6:55 to go, and Erin Morrow's layup cut the deficit to three. Tatum's running layup closed the Cougars within 62-59 with 5:34 left.

But Crum scored again and Johnson made a pair of free throws, extending the lead to 66-59 at the five-minute mark.

Columbus was back within a possession at 66-63 on Mitchell's layup with 3:32 left. Mitchell made two of three free throws as she was fouled on a 3-point attempt, cutting it to 66-65 with 2:49 to go.

Despite committing her fourth foul, Reynolds stayed in the game and made a driving basket off the glass to up Lander's lead to 68-65 with 2:28 left.

Mitchell's three-point play tied the game for the first time at 68-all with 50 seconds to go.

But Crum would not be denied. She drove from the perimeter around to the left of the basket and made an acrobatic layup to put the Lady Bearcats back on top with 40 seconds left at 70-68.

Mitchell air balled a 3-point attempt with 15 seconds to go and Lander got the rebound. But Columbus stole the ball back and called timeout. The Cougars lost the ball, Crum was fouled and made both free throws to put the game away.