GREENWOOD, S.C. - The No. 6 ranked Lander Bearcats could not overcome poor shooting and lost a Peach Belt Conference showdown to No. 11 North Georgia 49-40 Saturday afternoon at Horne Arena.
Lander fell to 17-3 overall and 11-3 in the PBC. The team's seven-game winning streak came to an end.
The Nighthawks, who swept the two-game season series from Lander, improved to 18-3 overall and 12-2 in the league. North Georgia outlasted the Blue and Gold 69-68 in Dahlonega, Ga., on Jan. 8, 2022.
The Nighthawks take a one-game lead over LU in the PBC standings. Georgia Southwestern entered Saturday's play 11-2 in the Peach Belt.
The Bearcats made only 12 of 52 shots from the floor (23 percent) including one of 16 from behind the 3-point arc (6 percent). They made only one field goal in the fourth quarter.
Lander, which has been missing All-American point guard Zamiya Passmore for several games due to injury, also played without guard Amiaya Melvins. The graduate assistant has been one of the Bearcats' top scorers of late.
Makaila Cange led Lander with another double-double, scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Aniaya Jester scored 12 points for the Bearcats. Sarah Crews paced Lander with four steals and three assists.
Caroline Martin led the Nighthawks with 14 points, Jamari McDavid scored 12 points, and Julianne Sutton added eight points and a team-high 11 boards.
The Bearcats made only two of 11 shots in the first quarter but cut an 8-2 deficit to 10-8 when Jester hit a pair of free throws with one second left.
Cange rebounded a teammate's missed 3-point attempt and laid it in high off the glass to pull Lander within 17-14 with 4:30 left in the half. But points were otherwise hard to come by as the Nighthawks led 23-16 at halftime. The Blue and Gold were only five of 26 shooting in the first two quarters (19 percent).
Martin hit a pair of 3-pointers as North Georgia extended its lead to 31-18 with 6:51 left in the third.
Facing a rare double-digit points deficit, the Bearcats fought back into the game. Cange made a layup,
Miriam Recarte hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key for the team's only trey of the afternoon, and Cange scored on a spin move in the paint to cut Lander's deficit to 31-25.
After North Georgia extended its lead to 35-27, the Bearcats responded with a 6-0 run. Cange scored while Crews and Jester each hit a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 35-33 with nine seconds left in the third. It was the first time Lander was within two points since it was 14-12 early in the second.
The Nighthawks led 37-33 going into the fourth.
The teams traded two free throws apiece early in the fourth before Josie Earnhardt's corner 3-pointer gave North Georgia a 42-35 lead with 6:13 to go.
Cange hit three of four free throws as Lander drew within 42-38 inside the three-minute mark.
But Anna Claire Atha's basket increased the Nighthawk lead to 46-38 with just under two minutes left.
Cange's offensive rebound basket with 10 seconds left was the only field goal for the Bearcats in the final quarter.
