GREENWOOD – Breshay Johnson scored 20 of her 22 points in the second half while Mylea McKenith added 20 points, leading the Lander Bearcats to an 85-47 Peach Belt Conference victory over Francis Marion University Saturday afternoon at Horne Arena.

Lander improved to 13-5 overall, 7-3 in the Peach Belt. The Bearcats trail only UNC Pembroke (8-3) in the PBC East Division standings.

The Patriots fell to 9-11 overall, 4-7 in the conference.

It was Lander's first game against its in-state rival since falling to the Patriots in the first round of the NCAA Southeast Regional last March.

Johnson led the Bearcats with 22 points and nine rebounds, making seven of nine shots from the floor. McKenith, who scored the game's first eight points, totaled her 20 points on eight of 15 shooting.

Jessica Harris added 14 points for Lander while Ty'hesha Reynolds scored all 10 of her points in the second half while leading the team with 12 assists and four steals.

Zuzana Talackova added eight points, making all three of her shots for the Bearcats. Lea Petit, who played big minutes in the first half when Johnson faced foul trouble, added seven points, three rebounds and three blocked shots. Destinee Langford contributed five assists for Lander.

The Bearcats forced 27 turnovers while committing only seven.

Shaunice Fulmore paced Francis Marion with 16 points while Khai Chandler added 14 points. Chandler and Tatyana McClaney led the Patriots with six rebounds apiece while Tete Flowers paced them with five assists.

Francis Marion made only 18 of 59 shots from the floor (31 percent) while Lander hit 29 of 65 (45 percent).

The Bearcats took advantage of Francis Marion's cold-shooting start, building a 15-6 lead after one quarter including an 8-0 game-opening run with McKenith scoring all eight.

Petit's layup with 8:45 left in the second period increased Lander's advantage to 17-6 as the Patriots were just 1-for-13 from the floor.

McKenith's layup gave the Bearcats a 25-12 lead with 5:30 left in the opening half.

Lander scored the final eight points of the second quarter as Tabitha Dailey made a layup, Talackova hit a 3 from the top of the key, and Harris completed a three-point play for a 35-17 halftime lead.

The Bearcats held Francis Marion to six of 27 shooting in the first half (22 percent). Lander held the 18-point halftime lead despite only a combined two points from its leading scorers Johnson (18.4 points per game) and Reynolds (17.6).

Reynolds' first basket of the game gave the Bearcats a 41-20 lead with 8:20 left in the third quarter. Johnson had nine points in the first three-and-a-half minutes of the second half as her layup made it 46-24 with 6:24 to go in the third.

Johnson's free throws upped Lander's lead to 51-24 at the four-minute mark. Talackova's second 3 of the afternoon (and just the second of the game for the Bearcats) made it 56-25 with 2:18 left in the third.

Lander led 58-31 going into the final period. Fulmore and Chandler had 26 of Francis Marion's 31 points through three quarters.

Harris made a nifty pass in the paint to Johnson for a layup, resulting in a three-point play that upped the Bearcat lead to 64-33 with 8:36 to go. A 3-pointer by Reynolds made it 72-40 with 5:29 left.

Harris's 3 increased the lead to 80-43 with 3:45 to go.