Friday, March 14, 2008

LANDER RALLIES TO BEAT TUSCULUM 83-78 IN NCAA REGIONAL

FLORENCE, S.C. --- Stephanie Ponds recorded a career-high 31 points and 16 rebounds as No. 7 seed Lander defeated second-seeded Tusculum 83-78 Friday night in the opening round of the 2008 NCAA Division II Women’s South Atlantic Regional. The game was played at the Smith University Center on the campus of Francis Marion University.

With the victory, the Lady Bearcats (23-11) advances to Saturday’s regional semifinal and will face No. 3 seed Clayton State at 8 p.m. Tusculum ends its magical season with an impressive 26-5 record.

Tusculum junior Ashli Oliver finished with 26 points on eight 3-pointers, while freshman Jasmine Gunn finished with 21 points and a career-best 11 assists in the loss. Sophomore Stephany Neptune posted eight points and 16 rebounds for the Pioneers.

Lander’s Kianna Smith recorded 15 points, while Tiara Good and LaShonda Chiles finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

But it was Ponds who shined for Lander as she shot 13-for-22 from the floor and grabbed six of her 16 boards on the offensive glass.

Lander rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half, using a 16-4 run and took the lead 66-64 with 7:49 remaining following a lay-up by Good. The lead would bounce back and forth including a three-pointer by Oliver to give TC the lead for the final time with 4:56 remaining in the contest. Lander got back-to-back buckets by Ponds to move up 75-72 with four minutes to go.

Tusculum would trim the deficit to 79-78 with 1:07 remaining following a jumper by Gunn. But the Pioneers would miss their final two three-pointers and Ponds got a keep offensive put-back following a missed free throw with 22 seconds left to put the game away.

Lander forced 21 turnovers, while converting those into 26 points. The Bearcats also dominated the paint, outscoring Tusculum by a 52-26 margin. The area TC dominated from was beyond the arc. Tusculum went 11-for-23 from three-point land, while limiting Lander to 0-for-10 shooting from downtown. Lander came into the game averaging 7.7 treys per contest.

Oliver established a new school and South Atlantic Conference single-season record with 104 three-point field goals, breaking the mark she established last season.

- TC -