North Georgia NG 17-12,10-8 Peach Belt

Lander Lander 19-10,11-7 Peach Belt

North Georgia NG

17-12,10-8 Peach Belt

Final

Mar. 07, 2024

Lander Lander

19-10,11-7 Peach Belt

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
North Georgia NG	15	9	12	15	51
Lander Lander	14	15	18	17	64

Summary
Box Score

Thomas Holland - Lander Athletics

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 3/7/2024 9:31:00 PM

Lander pulls away from North Georgia in Peach Belt Tournament quarterfinals

AMERICUS, Ga. – The Lander Bearcats closed the third quarter with a 10-0 run and held off North Georgia 64-51 in the Peach Belt Conference women's quarterfinals Thursday night at the Storm Dome on the campus of Georgia Southwestern.

Fourth-seeded Lander improved to 19-10 on the season and faces top seed Georgia Southwestern Friday night in a 7:30 semifinal game. Columbus State faces Augusta in Friday's other semifinal at 5:30.

Friday's winners will face off for the PBC Tournament championship Sunday afternoon at the Storm Dome in Americus, Ga.

Lander split two games with Georgia Southwestern this season, winning at home after WyKira Johnson-Kelly's (Franklinville, N.J.) near half-court buzzer beater forced overtime.

Fifth seed North Georgia saw its season end with a record of 17-12.

Johnson-Kelly paced the Bearcats with 17 points and five steals Thursday. She made four free throws in the final 1:22.

Tanyia Gordon (Plant City, Fla.) sparked the 10-0 Lander run and finished with 15 points on seven of 10 shooting from the floor. She shared team-high honors with six rebounds.

Courtney Nesbitt (Loganville, Ga.) saw her most action of the season for the Bearcats and took advantage with career highs of nine points, six rebounds and two blocked shots (she also had two blocked shots Feb. 28 at Flagler). The freshman played 26 minutes; her previous season-high was 15 minutes.

Emily Trushel paced the Nighthawks with 19 points and eight rebounds. Ava McGlockton scored 11 points for North Georgia.

Lander held the Nighthawks to 35 percent shooting from the floor (18 for 51) and out-rebounded North Georgia 34-28. The Bearcats shot 46 percent both overall (23 for 50) and from behind the 3-point arc (six for 13).

Lander scored seven unanswered points to take an early 7-2 lead on Johnson-Kelly's driving layup and 3-pointer from the right corner and Cory Santoro's (Bellevue, Ohio) pull-up jumper.

North Georgia used an 11-2 run to take a 13-9 advantage. But Johnson-Kelly drove to the basket and laid one high off the glass, was fouled, and completed the three-point play. Nesbitt followed with a steal and scored putting the Bearcats back in front 14-13 with 25 seconds left in the first quarter.

Lander trailed 15-14 going into the second period.

Nesbitt's 3-pointer from the left corner put the Bearcats back on top 17-15 in the first minute of the second quarter.

Lander fell behind by five before Amani Melendez (Woodbridge, Va.) was bumped after making a 3-pointer from the top of the key and converted a rare four-point play, cutting its deficit to 22-21.

The Bearcats regained a 23-22 lead with 3:45 left in the half when Nesbitt drove the baseline and made a reverse layup.

Gordon made a put-back and consecutive mid-range jumpers as Lander increased its lead to 29-24 going into the intermission.

Alicia Burgos (Milwaukee, Wisc.) made a layup in the opening minute of the second half to increase the Bearcat lead to seven. But the Nighthawks rallied to within 32-31.

Quadaija Langley's (Travelers Rest, S.C.) 3-pointer from the top of the key gave Lander a 35-31 advantage. But Livi Blackstock answered with a trey as North Georgia was again back within a point.

However the Bearcats finally put together a run to gain some separation. Gordon made a tough basket in the paint and a layup in transition, Johnson-Kelly swished a jumper just inside the arc behind the free-throw line, Burgos converted a three-point play, and Nesbitt made a layup in transition after Johnson-Kelly's steal. Lander closed the third quarter with a 10-0 run, taking a 47-36 lead into the fourth.

The Nighthawks scored the first four points of the final quarter. But Langley quieted that rally with a 3-pointer from the left wing, giving the Bearcats a 52-40 lead with 7:42 left.

Gordon nailed a huge trey from the top of the key as Lander's lead grew more comfortable at 55-42 just inside the six-minute mark.

Trushel's 3-pointer pulled North Georgia back within single digits at 57-49 with 3:25 to go.

Isabel Davenport's two free throws cut the Nighthawks deficit to 58-51 with 2:06 left. Johnson-Kelly answered those free throws with two of her own as the Bearcat lead grew to 60-51 with 1:22 to go.

Ashley Tucker's (Buffalo, N.Y.) mid-range jumper from the right side gave Lander more cushion, 62-51, with 42 seconds left. Johnson-Kelly added two more free throws to close out the scoring.

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