DAHLONEGA, Ga. - The Lander Women's Basketball team held a eight-point lead with under four minutes to go but the North Georgia Nighthawks rallied to tie the game and send it to overtime and come away with a 65-62 win on Wednesday evening at Lynn Cottrell Arena.

Both teams now sit at 15-8 overall and 8-5 in PBC Play.

WyKira Johnson-Kelly (Franklinville, N.J.) led all scorers with 22 points. She also led Lander in rebounds with seven. Tanyia Gordon (Plant City, Fla.) and Quadaija Langley (Travelers Rest, S.C.) each added ten points of their own.

The game was a back-and-forth affair that saw the lead change 11 times and the score tied eight different times.

Lander jumped out to an 10-4 lead with 3:50 to go in the first quarter led by buckets Johnson-Kelly, Langley, Alicia Burgos (Milwaukee, Wisc.), and Gordon. North Georgia started to crawl back into the game but a Johnson-Kelly free throw made it 11-7 after one quarter of action.

The Nighthawks opened the second quarter on a 6-2 run to tie the game at 13. That started a spell where the teams alternated baskets resulting in a tie game at 17-a-piece. 

The Nighthawks opened up a 23-18 lead but a three pointer from Cory Santoro (Bellevue, Ohio) and Langley gave Lander the lead back at 26-25. However, the Nighthawks got a layup to take a 27-26 lead at the half. 

Both teams opened up separate three point leads to open the third quarter with Lander's coming of a 6-0 run with baskets from Ashley Tucker (Buffalo, N.Y.), Gordon, and Johnson-Kelly.

The Nighthawks responded with a 7-0 run to take a four-point lead at 37-33 but Johnson-Kelly cut it to two with a layup going into the media timeout.

After the timeout, a layup from Aaliyah Bell (Pooler, Ga.) and a jumper from Gordon gave Lander a 39-37 lead. After the Nighthawks took a 42-39 lead, Johnson-Kelly and Gordon gave Lander a one-point lead with under a minute to go in the quarter. However, a buzzer-beater layup saw the home side leading by one going into the final quarter at 44-43.

North Georgia opened a 46-43 lead but a 13-2 run sparked by three pointers from Langley and Amani Melendez (Woodbridge, Va.) to give the Bearcats a 53-48 lead with under five minutes to go. However, the Nighthawks outscored Lander 8-3 the rest of the way to send the game to overtime.

After a pair of alternating baskets, the game was tied at 60-all with under 30 seconds to play but the Nighthawks got a jumper and a pair of free throws to open a four-point lead. 

Gordon got a layup off a Tucker offensive rebound with a second left but the Bearcats could not get a play off after North Georgia made one free throw and the hosts came away with the win.

The Lander Women's Basketball team continues their Peach State road trip on Saturday as they travel to Georgia College and State University for a rare 3:30 PM tip-off in Milledgeville. Read Full Article