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No. 21 Lady Bearcats down UNCP in Peach Belt opener

Kaylyn Small

PEMBROKE, N.C. - The No. 21-ranked Lander women's basketball team remained unbeaten Sunday afternoon as the Lady Bearcats defeated UNC Pembroke in their Peach Belt Conference opener, 76-67, at the English E. Jones Center.

Lander, which improves to 7-0 overall and 1-0 in the PBC, will face Lenoir-Rhyne and Brewton Parker on Dec. 29-30 at Clayton State's Christmas Classic. The 7-0 start is Lander's best since the 1980-81 team went 19-0 en route to a 21-3 record. With the loss, UNCP drops to 4-5, 0-2.

Shannon McKever and Mukia Myrick netted 13 points each to lead the Bearcats, while Kaylyn Small scored 12 points and Brittni Johnson 10. McKever led Lander in rebounds with seven and Small grabbed five. Johnson, Ciara Lyons and Kami Phillips each had three assists, while McKever and Robbins each had two steals.

UNCP was led by JaToya Kemp's game-high, double-double of 23 points and 14 rebounds. Briana Stanton added 11 points in the win and Illya Hunt grabbed six rebounds.

After being tied at 6-6 and 8-8, the Bearcats led 17-16 with 11:38 left in the first half. The Lady Bearcats used a 19-5 run to take a 36-21 lead with 4:55 left on a layup by Johnson. Six different players netted field goals in the run.

UNCP cut the margin to 36-29 on a two field goals from Hunt and Talena Faison's three pointer with 3:46 left.

Johnson's jumper at 1:45 gave Lander a 38-39 advantage and UNCP's Marquena Delk added the half's final basket to cut Lander's lead to 38-31 at halftime.

Lander shot 46.7 percent from the field in the first half and was 8-of-11 from the free throw line for 72.7 percent.

Kemp's basket at 19:14 of the second half cut the lead to 38-33 before Lander's Jasmine Judge nailed a three-pointer and Myrick a field goal to give Lander a 43-33 lead with 18:20 left.

Johnson's fastbreak layup gave Lander a 45-34 lead at 16:30 and the Lady Bearcats pushed the lead to 59-42, Lander's biggest lead of the game, on a free throw by Small at 11:38.

UNCP went on a 16-7 run to cut Lander's lead to 63-58 on a pair of Hunt free throws at 6:45, only to have Lander follow with a 9-0 run of its own to go back up, 72-58, with 4:41 left.

Lander connected on 26-57 field goals for 45.6 percent, including 5-of-19 from the three-point line. The Lady Bearcats were 19-of-25 from the free throw line for 76 percent.

UNCP was 27-62 from the floor for 43.5 percent, including 3-of-13 from the three-point line. The Lady Braves made 10-of-16 from the foul line for 62.5 percent.