GREENWOOD, S.C. – The UNCP women's basketball team was not able to make up from a 25 point deficit in the second half, as the Lady Bearcats took advantage of 18 UNCP turnovers to outlast the Lady Braves, 63-51, Wednesday evening in Peach Belt Conference action at the Horne Arena.

Lander (6-8, 3-4 PBC) completes the regular season sweep over UNCP (8-8, 2-5) after defeating the Lady Braves earlier in the season in Pembroke. The Lady Bearcats improve to 19-25 all-time against the Lady Braves.

"For whatever reason, we came out and struggled tonight. I thought we were flat and struggled offensively, we didn't execute in the first half. They shot the ball extremely well and made eight 3's in the first half," said UNCP head coach John Haskins. "In the last 12 minutes we did some better things, and at about 2:45 left we had an open 3 that could cut it to seven. We just have to be more consistent and come out to play for 40 minutes, that's the story of the game."

UNCP turned the ball over 18 times which led to 21 points for the Lady Bearcats. Lander recorded 13 steals, compared to just five steals from the Black and Gold. The Lady Braves connected on 17-of-48 (35.4%) from the field, including 4-of-12 (33.3%) from the perimeter, compared to 23-of-65 (35.4%) from the field and 11-of-36 behind the arch from the Lady Bearcats. 

Senior Taylor Gallentine scored a career-high 15 points to lead the Lady Braves, who also got 12 points from fellow senior Amelia Partin. The UNCP defense was led by Kierra Haney who pulled down 11 boards, including eight defensive rebounds. 

The Lady Bearcats got double-digit scoring from three different players, including Ashleigh Zandi who registered 16 points, while Precious Elkins and Lea Saunders turned in 15 points and 12 points, respectively. Zandi connected on 4-of-9 shots from downtown, as Aarika Judge and Saunders each drained three 3 point buckets on the night. 

Lander entered the second half with a 16 point advantage over UNCP and did not let up in the remaining 20 minutes of action. Shortly into the second half the Lady Bearcats went on a 12-1 run sparked by Briana Wade, who made a jump shot, immediately followed by a trey. The offensive surge helped Lander pull ahead by 25, 48-23. An eight minute scoreless streak from the Lady Bearcats allowed UNCP to cut the deficit to 10, after Haney drained consecutive free throws. Elkins made good on a three-point play, putting Lander up by 15, 62-47, with under one minute remaining. Jazmine Kemp drilled a jump shot five seconds before the buzzer, but the Lady Bearcats would end the game with a 63-51 victory.

Effective shooting from 3 point territory helped Lander to take a commanding first half lead over the Lady Braves. The Lady Bearcats drained eight 3 point buckets, including 3 apiece from Saunders and Zandi. Early into the game Zandi powered an offensive run to help Lander take a 10 point lead over the Black and Gold, 20-10. A 3 point bucket from Partin and baskets from Kemp and Chandrica Fuller brought the Lady Braves back within three at 20-17. With the help of Saunders, who hit three buckets from downtown in the final three minutes of the half, the Lady Bearcats were able to score 13 unanswered points before intermission.

UNCP will look to regroup on Saturday against PBC rival Clayton State (7-7, 3-4), as the Lady Braves travel to Morrow, Ga., for the second game in a four-game road trip. Tip is set for 1:30 p.m.