Lander Lander 18-10; 11-7

USC Aiken USCA 5-23; 1-17

Lander Lander

18-10; 11-7

Final

Mar. 02, 2024

USC Aiken USCA

5-23; 1-17

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Lander Lander	13	9	23	22	67
USC Aiken USCA	15	13	10	14	52

Summary
Box Score

Thomas Holland - Lander Athletics

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 3/2/2024 10:33:00 PM

Gordon Nets 28 as Bearcats top Pacers, 67-52, to End Regular Season

AIKEN, S.C. - The Lander Women's Basketball team overcame a slow first half to outscore the USC Aiken Pacers, 45-24 in the second half to pull away for a 67-52 win to conclude the regular season on Saturday evening at the USC Aiken Convocation Center.

Lander, who was already locked into the four-seed in next week's PBC Tournament, concludes the regular season at 18-10, 11-7 in PBC play. Meanwhile the Pacers, who were already eliminated from conference tournament contention, end their season at 5-23, 1-17 in PBC play.

Tanyia Gordon (Plant City, Fla.) stole the show, leading all scorers with 28 points on 14-18 shooting. WyKira Johnson-Kelly (Franklinville, N.J.) added 18 points of her own, second-most among all players. Gordon, Johnson-Kelly, and Quadaija Langley (Travelers Rest, S.C.) each tied for the team lead with five rebounds a piece.

The game could not have started worse for Lander as the Bearcats found themselves down 11-0 just over four minutes into the game. Ashley Tucker (Buffalo, N.Y.) got Lander on the board with the first bucket of the game at the 5:50 mark and that opened up a 13-4 run that allowed the Bearcats to cut the lead down to two on a Johnson-Kelly layup off a turnover to make it 15-13, Pacers, after one.

Lander couldn't get in an offensive rhythm in the second, only scoring nine points, but good defense kept them in the game as the Pacers only led 28-22 going into the locker room.

The second half saw Gordon take over with 20 points as Lander outscored their first half total score in each of the third and fourth quarters.

The Bearcats took their first lead of the game off an Alicia Burgos (Milwaukee, Wisc.) jumper in the middle of a 17-3 run to open the half that saw Lander open up an eight-point lead at 39-31 with under five to go in the quarter. The Pacers cut it back down to one possession but back-to-back buckets from Gordon got the lead back up to seven at 45-38 going into the final quarter.

The Bearcats scored the first ten points of the fourth quarter to stretch the lead to as much as 17 at 55-38. From there the Pacers could only cut the lead down to 12 on a couple of occasion but the Bearcats kept them at arms length to close out the win.

Lander now turns their attention to the PBC Tournament in Americus, Ga. and a matchup against the North Georgia Nighthawks in the quarterfinals. The official schedule will be released tomorrow after the conclusion of the Columbus State vs. Georgia College matchup.

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