AMERICUS, Ga. – The Lander women's basketball team forced 26 turnovers and held Georgia Southwestern to 33.3 percent shooting in the second and third quarters as the Bearcats defeated the Hurricanes, 64-52, on Saturday afternoon. 

With the win Lander (8-3, 3-0 PBC) moves to 3-0 in conference play for the first time since 2014-15. Georgia Southwestern (4-5, 0-3 PBC) dropped its fifth straight contest. 

After trailing 7-2, Lander rattled off 14 consecutive points over a 4:35 stretch midway through the first quarter, taking a 21-12 lead at the end of the period. A Sarah Crews jump shot gave Lander an 11-point advantage at the 9:26 point of the second quarter before Georgia Southwestern rallied to pull within three points at the 4:51 mark. An offensive putback from Amiaya Melvins and a three-pointer from Quin'De'Ja Hamilton gave Lander some breathing room as the Bearcats built a 31-24 lead at halftime. 

The third quarter featured a shooting drought by both teams as Lander was held without a field goal over the final 5:56 while the Hurricanes managed one field goal in the last six and a half minutes of the period. The Bearcats led 44-35 entering the fourth quarter and increased the lead to 13 on a Tabitha Dailey layup with 7:06 to play. GSW made one final push, cutting the deficit to six with 5:31 to go before the Bearcats reeled off seven consecutive points, including five straight from Jessica Harris, to put the game on ice. 

Dailey scored 12 of her game-high 18 points in the fourth quarter, while also leading all players with eight rebounds. Zamiya Passmore finished with 12 points, four steals, and three assists. 

Lander returns home to Finis Horne Arena for a PBC meeting with Augusta Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. 

#cLawsUp | @LanderWBB