Lady Pacers Top Rival Lady Jaguars

#18 USC Aiken Downs Rival Augusta State
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Playing for the fourth time in the last six days, No. 18 USC Aiken downed Augusta State 72-68 at the Christenberry Fieldhouse on Monday evening.

The victory for USC Aiken in Augusta was the first for the Pacers since the 2001-02 season when the Pacers downed the Jaguars 72-57 on Feb. 23, 2002.

Newly crowned Peach Belt Conference Player of the Week, Meredith Legg (Huntersville, N.C./Hopewell) led four USC Aiken players in double figures in the victory. Legg ended the night with a team-best 19 points. She hit three 3-pointers.

Kendra Chandler (Aiken, S.C./Aiken) finished with 17 points and nine rebounds in the game, while Megan Starnes (Riley, Kan./Riley County) concluded the game with 11 points.

Morgan Johnson (Marietta, Ga./Presbyterian College) finished the win just short of a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds. Johnson had five blocks in the contest. The five blocks were two short of her career high of seven.

The first few minutes of the game were marred by a bevy of fouls by the Augusta State defense. The Pacers were already in the one and one bonus just seven minutes into the contest.

Still, USC Aiken could not take advantage of the Jaguars proclivity to foul with the two teams still even at 18-18 at the second media time out of the first half (9:38 remaining). The two teams swapped leads twice in the first 10-plus minutes and the score was tied a total of five times in the opening minutes of the contest.

The Jaguars regrouped during the time out, going on an 8-2 run over the next two minutes to take a 26-18 lead. The run forced USC Aiken head coach Mike Brandt into a time out of his own with 7:15 left in the first stanza .

The Pacers responded to Brandt’s timely coaching move by going on 17-0 run of their own to take the lead back at 35-26 with 2:59 left in the first half.

USC Aiken allowed the Jaguars to go on a mini 7-0 run in the final two minutes of the second half. Despite the run, the first stanza concluded with USCA outscoring 20-7 over the final seven minutes to take a 38-33 into intermission.

The Pacers continued to stay on top in the second half, going up by as many as 12 points with 8:47 left in the game.

The 12-point lead would not last though with the Jaguars pulling back to within two points at 65-63 with 2:30 left in the game. Augusta State would take the lead shortly thereafter at 66-65 after a three-pointer from Jasmine Godwin.

Chandler would then hit a tough lay-up in the paint with a little over two minutes left to give USCA back the lead at 67-66. Triahna Harris (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) then stole the in-bounds pass from Augusta State and was immediately fouled. Harris made one of two free throws to place the Pacers on top 68-66 with one minute remaining.

After a crucial Johnson block on the defensive end, Chandler then hit a driving lay-up with just two seconds left on the shot clock to put the Pacers back up by four at 70-66. Chandler a few seconds later hit two free throws to give the Pacers their final points of the night and a 72-68 victory.

The Pacers shot over 45 percent from the field for the fifth consecutive game against Augusta State. The Pacers shot 45.1 percent in the win over the Jaguars.

USC Aiken held Augusta State to just 38.8 percent shooting in the game.

Just two days from now the men and women at USC Aiken return home to face off against in-state and PBC rival Francis Marion at the Convocation Center. The twinbill will begin with the women taking the court against Francis Marion at 5:30 p.m. The men will take on FMU after the conclusion of the women’s game.

Fans wishing to attend the Francis Marion men’s and women’s basketball doubleheader can enter the contests for a $1 off admission if they bring soup cans to donate. Their donations will help the Aiken ACTS.