GREENWOOD, SOUTH CAROLINA - The Sand Sharks were on the road Saturday afternoon against Lander, as the University of South Carolina Beaufort (5-4, 2-0) battled back from 18 down to win on the road against Lander University (2-5,0-2). Taniyah Bowman scored the final points in the final second of the game to seal the 62-60 comeback victory. 

Taniyah Bowman scored a game high 17 points in the win for the Sand Sharks making four shots in the win. She was one of four double figure scorers as Janiyah Heyward had 14 points and three steals. Samantha Bardonaro, and Lydia Gattozzi had 10 points each. Gattozzi had team high five assists and four steals. Jada Young had a team high seven rebounds. 

The Sand Sharks defense forced 26 turnovers, having 19 steals in the win and holding Lander to 25% from three. 

After Janiyah Heyward opened the scoring with an early basket on a pull up jump shot for the early 2-0 lead, Lander then answered with a fast run scoring 15 straight points over the next five minutes of the opening quarter. Bri Pelote ended the Lander run off an assist by Lydia Gattozzi. Gattozzi and Samantha Bardonaro combined for the next five points to get the deficit back down under 10 at 17-9 but Lander answered back with a three pointer to push it back to an 11 point game. Lander opened the game with a fast start shooting 9-13 including two three pointers while having three steals to jump out to the lead winning the quarter 20-9. 

The second quarter opened defensively strong as neither team made a shot in the opening two minutes until Lander finished a layup at the 7:48 minute mark. Lander scored the first seven points of the quarter before Bardonaro scored the first points of the second quarter for the Sand Sharks off an assist by Heyward. Lander continued to hold strong on the lead as the two teams hit a point in the game where it stayed around the 11 point deficit for USCB. Elly Lewis picked up the final shot of the quarter off a steal by Gattozzi leading to the pull up jump shot for Gattozzi's fourth assist of the half and Lewis for her first shot of the game. The Sand Sharks trailed 34-21 after the first two quarters. 

After halftime Lander opened the scoring with an early three pointer extending the lead to 16 points before reaching their largest lead at 18 at 41-23. The Sand Sharks though stormed back fast with a 9-0 run started by a three point play from Taniyah Bowman. Carolina Coria pushed the deficit to under 10 at 41-32. In that two minute stretch the Sand Sharks forced two turnovers. Lander briefly ended the run before the Sand Sharks continued to push the pace, chipping into the deficit getting as close as seven in the third quarter following Janiyah Heyward's layup off a defensive stop. Lander had their lead back to 12 but Heyward sent USC Beaufort into the final quarter with some momentum hitting a jump shot in the closing seconds of the quarter as the Sand Sharks trailed 48-38 after three quarters. 

Bowman continued the momentum in the fourth quarter, as she sparked the 13-0 run in the fourth quarter at the 7:59 mark and hit a layup to cut the deficit down to nine. It was four turnovers that the Sand Sharks defense created to give USCB the chance on the offensive end of the floor. Bowman had six points followed by Lydia Gattozzi having five in the stretch including a three pointer to push the Sand Sharks in front 52-50 for the first time of the game from USCB. The game was then tied five other times in the final four minutes of the game as Bowman scored the final four points including the basket to go in front 60-58 before sealing the game with the final two points of the game in the final seconds after Lander tied the game at 60. This sealed the win for the Sand Sharks pushing in front 62-60 for the victory over Lander.

In the fourth quarter the Sand Sharks shot 55.6% from the floor forcing eight turnovers while out scoring Lander 24-12. 

The Sand Sharks are back home on Wednesday, December 10th against Augusta with tip-off scheduled for 5:30 PM.

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