Cange’s 43 points leads Lander to dominant PBC win over Jaguar women

By Katron Hugee | Sports writer

The Jaguar women’s basketball team lost to the 10th-ranked Lander University Bearcats 105-66 on Wednesday, Jan. 12, at Finis Horne Arena in Greenwood, S.C.

Augusta University dropped to a 9-4 record overall and 2-2 in the conference, and the Bearcats improved to 11-2 on the season and 3-1 in the conference.

The Bearcats jumped on AU early, starting the game with a 14-0 run. The Jaguars did not score their first point until 4:56 was left in the first quarter.

AU scored six quick points and cut Lander’s lead back down to 10. However, Lander would end the first quarter with a 21-8 lead.

Makaila Cange of Lander would start out hot, scoring 13 of the Bearcats’ 21 points in the first quarter on 6-7 shooting.

The Bearcats would start the quarter strong once again going on an 11-0 run and extending their lead to 24 points. After an AU timeout, the Jaguars would score with 7:46 remaining in the second quarter.

Lander University’s lead would grow to 31 points but a 8-0 run by the Jaguars would cut the lead back down to 24 forcing a Lander timeout.  The Bearcats would end the half with a 23 point advantage leading 53-30.

Cange scored another 11 points in the 2nd quarter bringing her halftime total to 24 points and 9 rebounds.

The third quarter started with the scoring going back and forth with a score of 61-37 with 7:13 remaining in the third. Then, an 8-0 run pushed the Bearcat lead to 32 points.

Lander would end the third quarter on a 6-0 run with a 34 point lead, their largest in the game so far. The score was 80-46 heading into the fourth quarter.

Cange would have another dominant quarter with 13 points and 7 rebounds in the third quarter.

The Bearcats would go on a 9-0 run to start the fourth quarter. Including the end of the third quarter, Lander overall would go on a 15-0 run, their largest in the game. This run gave the Bearcats their largest lead of the game at 43 points.

Lander won each quarter by an average of 10 points. The Bearcats also shot 63.5 percent from the field in the game, compared to AU’s 39 percent.

Cange finished game with 43 points and 18 rebounds on 16-18 shooting and 11-12 shooting from the free throw line. She led her team in points and rebounds and was a dominant presence in the paint that the Jaguars had no answer for.

For AU, Zairya West led the team in scoring with 21 points followed by Kiera Howard with 16. Howard also led the Jaguars in rebound with 5 and Mone Florence led the team in assists with 4.

The Jaguars come back home for another Peach Belt Conference matchup against Columbus State University on Saturday, Jan. 15, at Christenberry Fieldhouse.

Note: At the top of the page, Zaiyra West shows her shooting form; the AU guard had 21 points in the last at Lander. (photo by AU Athletics)

 Contact Katron Hugee at khugee@augusta.edu.