Women's Basketball Falls To Lander, 72-65

Box Score

GREENWOOD, S.C. – Junior forward Kierra Haney turned in her third-consecutive double-double performance, but it was not enough as the UNC Pembroke women's basketball team was topped by Lander, 72-65, in Peach Belt Conference action on Monday night in the Horne Arena.

The Lady Braves (4-3, 1-1 PBC) went into halftime facing a 10-point deficit, but were still able to pull some positives from the opening half. UNCP outrebounded the Bearcats (5-4, 1-1 PBC), 19-17, as the Lady Braves' defense pulled down 16 boards in the first half.

The second half started with an 18-10 UNCP run, cutting the Lady Braves' deficit to just one point, 46-45, at the 10:18 mark. Jamelia James helped the Bearcats to jump back ahead by making three-straight 3-point buckets. James shot 71 percent (5-of-7) from behind the arc in the second half. With under three minutes remaining, Jazmine Kemp attempted to spark the UNCP offense with a 7-2 run, but a free throw from Lander's Ebonie Hudson would extend the Bearcats' lead to five, 70-65. Hudson drained a layup for the last points of the game as the final 24 seconds ticked off the clock.

"I felt like we came out and did not play very well. In the first half we put ourselves in a whole and tried to fight back in the second half. It seemed like every time we got close they had an answer," said UNCP head coach John Haskins. "I'm kind of disappointed in the intensity in the first half, and focus that we needed to have just wasn't there. But they're a good team and they shot the ball extremely well."

The loss snapped the Lady Braves' four-game winning streak. Lander has now won the last three matchups against the Black and Gold, and the Bearcats improve to 27-18 in the all-time series.

Kemp, one of four Lady Braves to reach double figures in scoring, led the Black and Gold with 23 points. A bright spot in the setback was Haney's career-high 16 rebounds matched with 13 points, marking her third-straight double-double. Also turning in double-digit points were Katelyn Mitchell and Kamille Horne, who tallied 11 points and 10 points, respectively.

UNCP finished the night outrebounding the Bearcats, 46-30, including 31 defensive rebounds compared to just nine from Lander. Turnovers hurt the Lady Braves, as Lander was able to convert UNCP's 22 turnovers into 27 points.

Lander finished with three players in double-digit scoring, including a game-high 24 points from Kayla West, who shot 8-of-13 (61.5 percent) from the floor, including a 3-of-5 (60.0 percent) clip from the perimeter. James chipped in another 17 points on 62.5 percent (5-of-8) shooting from 3-point territory, while Hudson contributed 15 points for the Lander victory.

The Lady Braves hit the road on Friday to compete in the Georgia College Holiday Classic in Milledgeville, Ga. UNCP will face Limestone (6-1) on Friday at 4 p.m., followed by a 1 p.m. contest with Tuskegee (3-4) on Saturday. All games will be played inside of the Centennial Center.