AMERICUS, Ga. - The Lander Women's Basketball team could not overcome a cold-shooting first quarter as they fell to the 19th-ranked Georgia Southwestern Hurricanes by a score of 65-47.
Lander dropped to 7-18 on the season, 4-12 in PBC play while the Hurricanes improved to 21-4 overall and 13-3 in the conference. The win also secured them the conference regular season title.
Despite the slow start to the game, three Bearcats would score double digits as Kayla Sanders led the way with a double-double, her second one of the season, securing 13 points and 11 rebounds. She was joined by Tanyia Gordon with 12 points and Jakiyah Parker with 11 points.
Ava Jones led the way for the home team as she scored 22 points.
Georgia Southwestern would build a big lead early as Lander would only hit two field goals from Kayla Sanders and Tanyia Gordon while Tyasia Freeman added a free throw. Turnovers would doom Lander as they committed eight of them in the first ten minutes leading to 11 Georgia Southwestern points as the hosts built a 21-5 lead after the first quarter.
In total Georgia Southwestern would get 30 points off 25 Bearcat turnovers.
In the second quarter, the Bearcats flipped the switch offensively as they shot over 60% from the field and Jakiyah Parker would go a perfect 3-3 from the field including a three-pointer marking Lander's 223rd straight game with a three point field goal. However, despite the hot shooting Georgia Southwestern would match Lander's point total, not allowing the Bearcats to cut into the deficit heading into half time.
After halftime, a Kayla Sanders three-point play and a Quadaija Langley three-pointer would cut the lead down to ten and it seemed that Lander had found their second half comeback magic again but Georgia Southwestern would respond with a 6-0 run of their own to get the lead back to 16. A Cory Santoro bucket and Parker free throw would get it back down to 13 at 46-33 but the Hurricanes would score four to end the quarter with a 50-33 lead.
In the fourth quarter Tanyia Gordon would hit two of Lander's nine free throws in the last ten minutes to cut the lead down to 14, but the Bearcats would once again go cold from the floor as they would only knock down two field goals in the final quarter of action coming from Jakiyah Parker and Jasmine Grant. The Bearcats would have a 6-0 run midway through the quarter but Georgia Southwestern would respond with a 7-0 run of their own to help ice the game and secure their first ever regular season conference title.
Lander is back at Finis Horne Arena for the final time in the 2022-23 season as they welcome Young Harris to Greenwood for a 5:30 PM tip-off. The regular season will conclude for Lander next Saturday as they travel to Flagler for a 1:30 PM tip-off.
