GREENWOOD – The No. 23-ranked and top-seeded Lander women's basketball team bounced back from a shaky end to the first half to score 31 points in the third quarter as the Bearcats advanced to the Peach Belt Conference Tournament title game with a 92-67 semifinal win over fourth-seeded Columbus State Saturday afternoon at Horne Arena. Zamiya Passmore and Tabitha Dailey scored a combined 49 points to lead Lander.

The Bearcats (25-5) now have their fourth 25-win season in five years. Lander will play No. 2 seed North Georgia (26-4) for the PBC title Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. at Horne Arena.

The Cougars likely ended their season at 19-9, barring an unlikely at-large berth to the NCAA Division II Tournament.

The Bearcats are seeking their fifth tournament championship in program history (1999, 2008, 2009, 2016). Win or lose Sunday, Lander will be in the NCAA Tournament as it is ranked No. 1 in the Southeast Region.

Columbus State had been a nemesis of sorts in the PBC Tournament for Lander, having beaten the Bearcats 86-83 in last year's semifinals to improve to 6-2 in head-to-head tournament matchups. But this time Lander had its way with the Cougars, outscoring them 56-33 in the second half.

PBC Freshman of the Year Passmore paced the Bearcats with 25 points on 10 of 15 shooting from the floor and eight assists. She scored 17 points in the second half and had four assists in the third period.

Dailey added a double-double for Lander with 24 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Jessica Harris contributed 15 points, five assists and a team-high four steals for the Bearcats.

Leeaysia Williamson led Columbus State with 12 points before fouling out. Aryan Dozier added 11 points and Eboni Williams 10 points. Chrisalyn Boston scored eight points while leading the Cougars with eight boards.

The Bearcats fell behind 7-2 but responded with a 15-0 run.

Sarah Crews started the run with a 3 from the right side, Harris tied it with free throws and then put Lander on top with a baseline jumper. Crews made a jump shot at the free-throw stripe, Passmore nailed a 3 from the top of the key and then completed a three-point play on a drive inside for a 17-7 lead.

The Bearcats were up 23-11 after one quarter.

Harris hit a 3 from the right wing, giving Lander its biggest lead of the first half at 26-11. But Williamson's layup pulled the Cougars within single digits at 30-22 with 6:34 left.

Dailey's layup off a Harris steal upped the Bearcat lead to 36-25 inside the three-minute mark. But Columbus State closed the half with nine unanswered points, pulling within 36-34 at the break.

Lander caught fire again in the third quarter with another big scoring run, this one being 14-0, and it indeed put the game away.

Leading only 39-36, Dailey started the run with a layup off a long Passmore assist. Miriam Recarte blocked a shot on one end and hit a 3 from the left wing on the other, Dailey made a put-back, Dailey scored again off another long Passmore assist, Passmore collected a back-court steal and layup, and Harris made a 3 from the right corner for a 53-36 Bearcat lead with 3:07 left in the third.

Passmore's trey from the left corner increased Lander's advantage to 60-39 with 1:42 remaining. Dailey scored yet again off a Passmore dish, hitting a layup high off the glass to make it 64-43.

The Bearcats led 67-44 going into the final quarter after outscoring Columbus State 31-10 in the third.

Passmore's third basket of the fourth period, a floater in the lane, gave Lander its first 30-point lead at 78-48 at the six-minute mark.

Karimah Jenkins came off the Bearcats bench and helped punctuate the victory with a three-point play when she drove hard to the basket, hit a layup and drew contact as she would make it 87-54 with 3:55 left.

Cierra Revelle contributed a 3 for Lander in the final minute while Jakiyah Parker and Jenkins added free throws.

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