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No. 23 Lady Bearcats roll past Newberry, 74-63

Jasmine Judge

GREENWOOD – Jasmine Judge hit seven 3-pointers, Ciara Lyons had one of the biggest scoring games of her career, and Shannon McKever posted a double-double, leading No. 23 Lander to a 74-63 non-conference victory over Newberry College Saturday afternoon at Horne Arena.

The Lady Bearcats, who suffered their most lopsided loss of the 2008-09 season 83-48 at Newberry on Nov. 29, 2008, got revenge behind Judge’s 23 points, 21 by Lyons, and McKever’s 13 points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots. McKever had 10 defensive boards and even led unbeaten Lander with five assists.

Lyons, who made nine of 13 shots, came close to her career high of 25 points against Augusta State Feb. 11, 2009.

Judge hit seven of 13 from behind the arc while McKever was 5-for-8 from the floor.

The Lady Bearcats improved to 6-0 on the season while Newberry fell to 6-2.

Amy Browne led Newberry with 22 points, Anita Bulcher posted a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds, and LeAnne Watson scored 11 points. Jessica Bearzatto led Newberry with six assists.

“This was a great win for our program," said Lander coach Kevin Pederson. "Newberry is the best team we have played this season and I feel confident they will be an NCAA tournament team.  We played 40 solid minutes on both sides of the basketball and everyone on the team did what was needed of them.  Jasmine Judge held Newberry’s leading scorer to 4 points, and Shannon (McKever) really anchored our defense.”

Lander opened the game with a 9-3 lead on Judge’s two 3-pointers from the left corner and McKever’s three-point play. But Newberry went on a 14-5 run, including seven points by Watson, to take a 17-14 advantage.

Judge’s third 3-pointer of the game tied it at 17. And after Newberry regained a 21-19 lead, the Lady Bearcats scored 11 unanswered points on McKever’s lay-up, consecutive baskets by Lyons, Myrick’s put-back, and Judge’s fourth 3-pointer to make it 30-21 with 6:35 left in the half. Lyons scored twice more as Lander built its lead to 38-26 at halftime.

Judge (12) and Lyons (10) scored 22 of Lander’s 36 points in the first half while McKever already had 10 rebounds. The Lady Bearcats hit 15 of 29 shots (52 percent) in the first half while Newberry missed several close-up shots, making only 10 of 33 overall (30 percent).

Judge hit two more 3-pointers in the first five minutes of the second half as Lander was able to maintain a lead of between nine and 13 points. The score remained 48-38 for more than four minutes until Kami Phillips hit two free throws to give Lander a 50-38 lead with 11:18 left. But Newberry pulled within single digits on Browne’s basket, cutting the visitor deficit to 52-44 at the 9:31 mark.

Judge’s seventh 3-pointer was another big shot for the Lady Bearcats, giving them a 58-45 lead with 7:12 to go. Brittni Johnson stole a pass and hit a driving lay-up to give Lander its biggest lead of the game at 15 points, 64-49, at the 5:05 mark. And Judge hit two free throws, her first points of the game aside from 3-pointers, to increase the team’s largest lead to 17, 68-51.

Newberry rallied with seven unanswered points with Browne’s 3-pointer cutting it to 68-58 with under three minutes left. Bulcher’s put-back pulled Newberry within nine, 69-60, with 1:46 to go. The visitors were threatening to score again when Johnson stole a pass under the basket to give Lander the ball back.

The Lady Bearcats ran some time off the clock before Myrick drove in for a lay-up, making it 71-60 with 49.8 seconds. Browne’s 3-pointer with 40 seconds left cut it to 71-63 before Lander closed the game with Johnson’s free throw and a driving lay-up by Lyons, resulting in the 11-point margin of victory.

For the game, Lander made 26 of 58 shots from the floor (45 percent), 14 of 20 free throws (70 percent), and eight of 24 from 3-point range (33 percent). Newberry made 24 of 63 shots (38 percent), 13 of 18 free throws (72 percent), and two of six from behind the arc (33 percent). Newberry had 16 turnovers to 13 for Lander. The Lady Bearcats had a 39-36 edge on the boards.