Lander Cruises Past Armstrong Atlantic State into Semifinals

AIKEN, S.C. -- Starting its defense of their 2008 Peach Belt Conference (PBC) Tournament title in convincing fashion, the No. 5-seeded Lander University Lady Bearcats cleaned the glass to wipe out No. 4 seed Armstrong Atlantic State University today (March 5) in the Quarterfinals, 83-63.

Lander improves to 18-10 on the season and will advance to the semifinal round to face top-seeded and national No. 14 Francis Marion University Saturday, March 7 at 2 p.m. Armstrong Atlantic falls to 17-11.

Lander owned a 53-36 advantage in rebounding, resulting in a 27-7 edge in second-chance points.

The 83 points by the Bearcats are the most in the tournament thus far, and the most since Lander beat Francis Marion University in the semifinals 93-73 a year ago.

All-PBC Second Team selection Shannon McKever posted a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double aided by 13 points from PBC Freshman of the Year Ciara Lyons. Ten Bearcats reached the scoring column.

For the Pirates, All-PBC First Team choice Lacey Willis had 17 points and nine boards, while Ashley Duhart added 11 points.

The Lady Bearcats came out of warm-ups hot, breaking out to a quick 19-4 lead off a 15-0 run beginning at the 18:17 mark. Lander got balanced scoring in that early run, getting points from seven different players.

Lander made more than they missed in the first half, entering the lockerrooms shooting at a 52.8 percent clip (19-36). They also owned a healthy advantage in rebounding (24-16) including a 12-0 lead on second-chance points. McKever had a near double-double at halftime, carding 10 points with seven caroms. The Pirates went in the half down 44-27.

The Bearcats cooled off in the second stanza, finishing at 42.1 percent (32-76) from the floor, just two percent better than their opponents (24-60). Lander owned the offensive glass as well, 25-12.

Boxscore

PBC Tournament -- GAME 6 -- Armstrong Atlantic State vs. Lander

Armstrong Atlantic State Head Coach Matt Schmidt

"Our basketball team had a great run at the end of the season up until today."
"Their pressure really caused a lot of problems for us...We had no flow the entire night."
"We had some high percentage shots at the beginning of the game and they just did not fall."
"We held McKever down at our place. Tonight she really hurt us. She took it to us. They obviously had a point to prove."
"We struggle scoring at times we have to convert on easy posesssions."
On his first year at Armstrong..."We were picked to finish eighth in the league at the beginning of the year and we come out and tie for third; we're the fourth seed in the conference tournament."
"We did some good things."
"I'm in the car tomorrow morning (recruiting)."

Lander Head Coach Kevin Pederson

"It's an unusual situation where your first conference matchup is the team you just played on Saturday. When you lose a game, it's much easier to go out and make adjustments. For Armstrong, they won. They pretty much came up with the same game plan they used down there. I thought that was an advantage for us."

"Lacey WIllis is one of the best players I've seen in the four years I've been at Lander."
"We talked all week about getting off to a strong start defensively. Our defense set the tone."

"Shannon (McKever) was very aggressive. She brought her game to them."

On the semifinal matchup with Francis Marion..."We're not playing Francis Marion. We're playing the No. 1 (seeded) team in the tournament. Both times we've played them, it's been a very close and the kind of ran away from us at the end. That's their experience."
On their recent tournament success in Aiken..."There's a certain comfort level playing here."

Lander's Shannon McKever

"When you have three or four days to prepare for a team you just played, you get a good game plan. I knew I had to go at her (Willis). When we played Saturday, I played soft."