GREENWOOD – Tanyia Gordon (Plant City, Fla.) scored a career-high 30 points while Lander made eight of its first 10 attempts from behind the arc as the Bearcats beat Auburn-Montgomery 85-62 Wednesday afternoon at Horne Arena.
Lander earned its third consecutive win, improving to 3-2. The Warhawks fell to 2-2.
The Bearcats have now won their home opener 12 consecutive years.
Gordon made 14 of 19 shots from the floor, surpassing her previous Lander career high of 24 points set Feb. 25, 2023, versus Flagler.
Quadaija Langley (Travelers Rest, S.C.) added 18 points for the Bearcats. Cory Santoro (Bellevue, Ohio) scored 11 points while WyKira Johnson-Kelly (Franklinville, N.J.) added 10 points for Lander.
Abby Carter (Geneva, Ohio) paced the Bearcats with five rebounds. Carter, Gordon and Alicia Burgos (Milwaukee, Wisc.) each blocked two shots for Lander.
Danielle Luckey paced Auburn-Montgomery with 14 points, Allasha Dudley added 12 points and Gabby Litvak led all rebounders with seven.
Lander shot 55 percent from the floor (33 for 60) and 67 percent from 3-point range (8 of 12).
Gordon scored three times while Amani Melendez made a pair of 3-pointers as the Bearcats rebounded from a slow start to close within 21-15 after one quarter.
Lander pulled into a 23-all tie early in the second period when Langley made a 3-pointer and a long jumper, and then Santoro hit a game-tying trey from the right wing.
The Bearcats took their first lead when Langley nailed the team's sixth 3-pointer out of eight tries, making it 28-25 with 6:53 left in the half.
Then Gordon caught fire during a 12-4 Lander run, making five shots in a row in the paint over a span of three minutes and 10 seconds. Carter scored the other Bearcat basket on a layup off Johnson-Kelly's steal as the hosts led 40-32 with two minutes to go.
Santoro added a 3-pointer from the left corner as Lander led 43-38 at halftime behind Gordon's 16 points. Gordon made eight of 12 shots in the first half.
Gordon reached the 20-point mark when she made a spin move in the lane and hit a jumper, giving the Bearcats a 49-43 advantage with 5:30 left in the third quarter. Gordon scored again on Lander's next possession, igniting a 15-0 run which broke the game open.
Johnson-Kelly drove around two defenders for a layup and three-point play to continue the run. Santoro made two free throws, Langley hit a layup, Carter drove the baseline and passed to Ashley Tucker (Buffalo, N.Y.) who had cut inside for a layup, and Langley added four free throws for a 64-45 Bearcat lead with 1:30 left in the third.
Tucker added a three-point play as the Blue and Gold took a 67-50 lead into the final quarter.
Gordon added three more baskets including a reverse layup in the opening three minutes of the fourth period as Lander led 73-54.
Gordon hit the 30-point mark with a jumper off the glass, making it 76-54 with 6:10 left.
Santoro's corner 3-pointer gave the Bearcats a 79-56 lead with 4:35 to go, the team's eighth made trey out of 10 tries.
The Lander Women's Basketball team is back at home on Saturday as they take on the Fayetteville State Broncos. Tip-off for that game is scheduled for 1:30 PM.
