Lady Jags Fall To USC Aiken

AIKEN, S.C. -- USC Aiken (10-3, 2-0 PBC) used a strong second half start to seize momentum and pull away to the 69-62 win over rival Augusta State (8-4, 0-2 PBC) in women’s Peach Belt Conference basketball on Saturday night at “The Courthouse”. In front of a crowd of more than 1,200 and a national audience via the NCAA Broadband broadcast, the Lady Pacers knocked off the Lady Jaguars for just the second time in the last eight meetings.

In the final meeting between the two programs at the 30-year-old “Courthouse”, the Lady Pacers won their sixth-straight at home and with their sixth consecutive victory overall, USCA is off to its been start since the 2002-03 squad opened 11-3.

USC Aiken opened on fire from the field, knocking down 10 of their first 14 attempts in racing to a 23-11 lead following Kendra Chandler’s jumper with 9:18 remaining in the first half. Augusta State struggled to find their touch, opening 5-of-22 and finishing the half 10-of-40 for 25.0 percent. Chandler’s spark off the bench translated to six points and six rebounds in 15 minutes of action.

Over the next 8:13, however, the Lady Jags’ defense shut down USCA, holding them to three points and just five field goal attempts. ASU went on a 20-3 run over that span to grab the lead 31-26 on Deo Ngulela’s two free throws with 1:05 remaining.

Jordon Thomas’ old-fashioned three-point with 16 ticks on the clock closed the half-time deficit to 31-29. Despite shooting 52.4 percent in the opening stanza, USCA trailed at the break because of 19 more shot attempts by ASU thanks to a 14-2 edge in offensive rebounds.

Mindy Allee and Satu Leppanen each drilled buckets to start the second half as USCA regained the lead 33-31 and never relinquished it. Leading 40-37 with 14:27 remaining, Nola Grant ignited a 9-2 run that gave USCA some second half separation 49-38 with 11:35 left following two charity tosses by Thomas.

USCA converted 14-of-17 attempts at the line in the second half. Thomas poured in 11 of her 15 in the final frame on 4-of-6 shooting to go with five boards.

ASU responded with six-straight including a pair of buckets from Shirrell Ford to trim back the deficit to 49-44 with 7:23 on the clock. But Meredith Legg’s lay-up and free throw ended the run as USCA pulled back out to an 11-point lead with under two minutes to play.

Ford scored 12 of her team-high 17 in the second half as she finished 7-of-13 from the field to go with nine rebounds. The rest of the Lady Jags were 14-of-54 for the game for 25.9 percent.

Legg led the way with 17 points and four assists on 6-of-9 shooting. The sophomore from Huntersville, N.C. extended her streak of consecutive games with a made three-pointer to 15. Allee added 11 points and five assists while Grant chipped in eight points, seven rebounds, and four blocked shots.

USC Aiken will try to extend their winning streak to seven games on Wednesday, January 10th when the Lady Pacers travel to Pembroke, N.C. to take on UNC Pembroke at 5:30 PM. Augusta State will also hit the road on Wednesday playing at Georgia College & State at 5:30 PM.

OFFICIAL BASKETBALL BOX SCORE -- G A M E   T O T A L S                          
Augusta State vs USC Aiken                                                      
01/06/07 5:30 PM at Aiken, S.C. (The Courthouse)                                
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VISITORS: Augusta State 8-4, 0-2 PBC                                            
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS                         
No.     N A M E           FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP   A TO BLK S MIN
24 Paschal, Tracey      f  1-8    0-1    3-4    4  2  6   3   5   0  0  0  3  25
25 Mealing, Nicole      f  3-7    1-3    1-1    1  1  2   3   8   1  0  1  2  25
15 Ford, Shirrell       c  7-13   0-0    3-4    8  1  9   4  17   1  1  0  1  26
04 Batovska, Alla       g  2-9    0-3    0-0    1  1  2   3   4   2  2  0  0  24
30 Ngulela, Deo         g  1-7    0-1    2-2    0  3  3   2   4   5  1  0  1  33
20 Wyatt, Jamica           0-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   4   0   0  0  0  0   7
21 Jarrard, Brittany       2-8    2-5    1-2    0  0  0   0   7   1  2  0  0  19
22 Godwin, Jasmine         2-6    0-1    5-5    0  2  2   0   9   0  2  0  1  18
23 Roberts, Taliah         0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0   0  0  0  0   1
33 Paschal, Tiffany        0-1    0-0    1-4    4  1  5   2   1   0  0  0  0  10
54 Parker, Sherika         3-7    0-0    1-2    2  2  4   4   7   0  1  0  0  12
TEAM ........................................   5  4  9              1          
TOTALS                    21-67   3-14  17-24  25 18 43  25  62  10 10  1  8 200
                                                                                
TOT-FG 1stH: 10-40 25.0%  2ndH: 11-27 40.7%  OT:  0-0  00.0%  Game: 31.3% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH:  3-8  37.5%  2ndH:  0-6  00.0%  OT:  0-0  00.0%  Game: 21.4%  Rebs 
FThrow 1stH:  8-11 72.7%  2ndH:  9-13 69.2%  OT:  0-0  00.0%  Game: 70.8%   3   
                                                                                
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HOME TEAM: USC Aiken 10-3, 2-0 PBC                                              
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS                         
No.     N A M E           FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP   A TO BLK S MIN
03 Williams, Avonte     f  1-2    1-1    0-1    0  2  2   3   3   2  2  1  1  30
31 Leppanen, Satu       f  2-6    0-0    3-6    1  0  1   3   7   1  2  0  0  14
33 Grant, Nola          c  4-5    0-0    0-1    1  6  7   2   8   0  2  4  0  19
22 Allee, Mindy         g  3-7    2-5    3-4    0  2  2   0  11   5  1  0  2  33
24 Legg, Meredith       g  6-9    2-3    3-3    0  3  3   2  17   4  1  0  1  26
05 Bennett, Nichole        0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0   0  2  0  0   2
12 Starnes, Megan          0-3    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   2   0   2  1  0  0  25
13 Soules, Alicia          0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0   0  0  1  0   2
15 Chandler, Kendra        2-5    0-0    2-2    2  4  6   2   6   0  1  0  0  15
21 Broadwater, LaToshia    1-1    0-0    0-0    1  2  3   2   2   0  0  0  0   6
44 Thomas, Jordon          4-6    0-0    7-9    2  3  5   2  15   2  2  0  0  28
TEAM ........................................   2  2  4              3          
TOTALS                    23-45   5-9   18-26  10 25 35  18  69  16 17  6  4 200
                                                                                
TOT-FG 1stH: 11-21 52.4%  2ndH: 12-24 50.0%  OT:  0-0  00.0%  Game: 51.1% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH:  3-5  60.0%  2ndH:  2-4  50.0%  OT:  0-0  00.0%  Game: 55.6%  Rebs 
FThrow 1stH:  4-9  44.4%  2ndH: 14-17 82.4%  OT:  0-0  00.0%  Game: 69.2%   2   
                                                                                
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OFFICIALS:   Dave Pitock (R), Kristie Weed (U2), Libya Rentz (U2)               
TECHNICAL FOULS:                                                                
Augusta State                 -  none                                           
USC Aiken                     -  none                                           
ATTENDANCE:  1,240                                                              
SCORE BY PERIODS:                  1st  2nd  OT1  OT2  OT3  OT4   TOTAL         
Augusta State                       31   31                          62         
USC Aiken                           29   40                          69         
                                                                                
USC Aiken wins seventh-straight at home.