GREENWOOD – The No. 23-ranked and top-seeded Lander women's basketball team got 20-plus point games from Tabitha Dailey and Jessica Harris and used a 40-7 first-half run to beat No. 18-ranked and second-seeded North Georgia 76-62 for the Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship Sunday afternoon at Horne Arena.

Lander improved to 26-5 and will host the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional in Horne Arena as the No. 1 ranked team in the region.

The Nighthawks fell to 26-5. They will also wind up in the Southeast Regional as an at-large team, likely the No. 2 seed in Greenwood.

The NCAA Tournament schedule will be announced Sunday night.

The Bearcats won their fifth tournament championship, having also claimed titles in 1999, 2008, 2009 and 2016.

The Lander men and women swept the PBC championships Sunday. Lander was also the last Peach Belt school to achieve that feat in 2016.

Dailey led all scorers with 26 points and won the PBC Tournament MVP award. The senior made 11 of 19 shots from the floor and scored 10 points in the third quarter.

Harris added 22 points while leading Lander with six assists. The senior scored 11 points in the final quarter and also made the All-Tournament team.

Zamiya Passmore contributed 14 points, four assists and a team-leading four steals for the Bearcats.

Makaila Cange led Lander with seven rebounds while Miriam Recarte had three blocked shots.

Julianne Sutton paced North Georgia with a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds while adding three blocked shots. Kara Groover also scored 15 points and joined Sutton on the All-Tournament team.

Abby Hubert scored 12 points for the Nighthawks while Abbie Franklin added 10 points and led them with seven assists.

North Georgia opened the game with an 8-0 advantage as Hubert and Franklin made 3s. But Lander outscored the Nighthawks 19-3 the remainder of the first quarter to lead 19-11 going into the second.

Sarah Crews made two 3-pointers while Harris converted a pair of three-point plays during the 19-3 run.

Crews found Dailey open under the basket for a layup, giving the Bearcats their first double-digit lead at 23-13 with 8:18 left.

Dailey took a defensive rebound and drove the length of the floor for a layup, making it 29-15 with 5:35 left in the half.

The onslaught continued as Passmore scored three times and Cierra Revelle made a 3 during a 15-0 run, helping increase Lander's lead to 40-15 with three minutes to go.

Sutton's layup ended an astounding 40-7 Bearcat run.

Lander's lead was 45-24 at halftime behind three double-figures scorers in Harris (11), Passmore (10) and Dailey (10).

North Georgia opened the second half much like the first, scoring the first nine points to pull within 45-33 with 7:27 left in the third.

Dailey's layup through a double team put the Bearcats back ahead by 17 points at 59-42 with two minutes to go. Lander led 59-44 going into the final period.

Sutton's layup gave the Nighthawks their smallest deficit of the second half at 61-50 with 7:38 remaining.

Harris converted a three-point play and then drove down low and delivered a pass to Dailey for a layup, increasing the Bearcat lead to 66-50 inside the six-minute mark.

Harris drove inside and made a baseline jumper, extending Lander's advantage to 70-52 with 3:33 left.

Macey Gregg's short jumper pulled North Georgia within 71-59 with 2:14 to go. But Crews avoided a turnover and flipped a pass from mid-court to Dailey for a layup and a 73-59 lead inside the two-minute mark.

Harris made three of four free throws to clinch the victory.

#cLawsUp | @LanderWBB