BLUFFTON -- After an intense week of practice, USCB women's basketball aimed to improve its defense against visiting Lander Wednesday night inside the Cove; while the Sand Sharks came up short losing 56-41, head coach Sharon Versyp was very pleased with her teams improvement in just three days. 

"Excellent work from the girls tonight," Versyp said. "They were put through highly intense practices leading up to this game and just ran out of gas their in the fourth. That's on me, but this performance was vastly better than Saturday (at Clayton State) and I am very proud of all them." 

Brielle Bartelt scored a team-high 11 points while Taniyah Bowman continued her strong play scoring nine while making her second start of the year. Shaniya Rose continued her strong presence on the boards picking up 13 boards. 

Debuting a new starting lineup, the Sand Sharks (4-7, 0-3 PBC) kept it close through most of the first quarter being down only one with under three to play, however the Bearcats went on a 6-0 run to close out the period to go up 15-8. After Cory Santoro's triple pushed the lead to 10 for Lander to open the quarter, neither team scored until Bowman floated one in, ending the drought. USCB trimmed the lead to only two heading into the break. 

Beaufort took its first lead of the game after Mahkayla Premo's pull-up jumper in the paint made it 22-2. The score would be tied or have the lead exchanged eight times over the remainder of the period, but it was Lander who came out ahead after three quarters 33-30. The fourth opened with both teams exchanging buckets, but the Bearcats went on an 11-2 run over the next three minutes to make it a 12-point game. Lander closed the game out going 6-for-8 from the charity stripe to hold on for the 15-point victory. 

USCB remains at home this weekend as it hosts Georgia Southwestern during PBC Officials Appreciation Day. Tipoff inside the Cove is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and can be seen live on the Sand Shark Gameday Network.