GREENWOOD – The No. 23-ranked and top-seeded Lander women's basketball team got 18 points from Jessica Harris as the Bearcats advanced to the Peach Belt Conference Tournament semifinals with a 66-50 victory over eighth-seeded Young Harris Wednesday night at Horne Arena.

Lander improved to 24-5 and will face Columbus State (19-8) in the semifinals Saturday at Horne Arena. Fourth-seeded Columbus State beat USC Aiken in another quarterfinal game Wednesday.

Eighth-seeded Young Harris finished its season 15-14.

"I thought Jessica Harris got us off to a good start," said head coach Kevin Pederson. "Sarah [Crews] hit a couple of threes. It was good up and down the lineup, but I thought Jess paced us."

The Bearcats are seeking their fifth tournament championship in program history (1999, 2008, 2009, 2016) after recording 23 wins in the regular season for the first time since 2014-15.

Harris made five of 10 shots from behind the 3-point line to lead Lander. The senior was the team's only double-figure scorer.

Sarah Crews was next in points for the Bearcats with eight. Tabitha Dailey paced Lander with eight rebounds while Zamiya Passmore added seven points while leading the team with six assists.

The Bearcats made 12 of 29 from behind the arc after hitting only five of 33 in a loss at USC Aiken Saturday.

Carly Winters paced the Mountain Lions with 19 points while Niaya White added 12 points.

Harris made a fast-break layup and a 3 from the left corner, helping stake the Bearcats to a 7-0 advantage. But Lander's lead shrunk to 12-10 with 2:27 left in the first quarter and the Bearcats were up 16-10 going into the second period.

After making only six of its first 19 shots from the floor in the first 11:30 of the game, Lander heated up. The Bearcats outscored Young Harris 20-6 in the second quarter to build a 36-16 halftime lead.

Harris, Cierra Revelle, Aniaya Jester and Passmore all hit 3s while Amiaya Melvins added six points in the second period for Lander.

Harris swished a 3 from the right corner and Crews banked in a trey as the Bearcat lead grew to 45-22 with 4:27 left in the third.

Harris and Miriam Recarte hit consecutive 3s from the same spot on the left side to extend Lander's lead to 53-25 just under the two-minute mark.

Harris's third 3 of the quarter gave the Bearcats a 56-29 advantage going into the final period. Lander was five for seven from behind the arc in the third quarter.

Winters made consecutive 3s to pull the Mountain Lions within 59-39 with 4:06 to go.

Crews made a trey from the right side as Lander finally reached double-figure points in the fourth quarter and led 66-45 with 1:06 left.

The Bearcats were outscored 21-10 in the final quarter but were still never threatened.

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