Box Score MARS HILL, NC--The 17th ranked USC Aiken Lady Pacers (5-1) exercised last season's Stanford Arena demons with a strong shooting performance in an impressive 67-53 road win at 22nd ranked Mars Hill (1-2) in women's non-conference basketball Tuesday night.  It was the fifth consecutive win for the Lady Pacers.  

In last year's second round of the NCAA Tournament held at Mars Hill's Stanford Arena, the Lady Pacers shot 37.9 percent in the second half as their opponent, North Carolina Central, hit a scorching 61.9 percent to roll past USCA 79-61.  Tonight's win also avenges the Lady Pacers' only regular season non-conference loss from a year ago, a 60-53 defeat in Aiken at the hands of the Lady Lions.  

Trading buckets from the outset, both teams played even in the opening 16 minutes of the first half.  Twice Mars Hill led by two while the Lady Pacers' biggest lead was six, at 15-9 with 10:26 on the clock following a three-point play by Sarah Kendrick.  But a 7-0 run by Mars Hill, keyed by a three-pointer from Tiffany Atkins with 9:34 to play, gave the Lady Lions the edge at 17-16.  

The sixth tie of the half occurred at 23-23 on another bucket by Atkins.  She had eight of her team-high 14 in the opening half.  Julie Szabo hit a triple followed by an Allison Nold lay-up and topped with a Jen Kennedy three-pointer with 5.0 seconds remaining to give the Lady Pacers a 33-27 lead at the break.  

???????USCA continued their strong play by opening the second half with a 6-0 run.  Nold hit a jumper, Kennedy sank a pair of free throws, and Kendrick converted a lay-up at 17:57 to make it 39-27.  Mars Hill committed three straight turnovers to spark the USCA run.  For the game, the Lady Lions registered 19 miscues.  The Lady Pacers also out rebounded MHC 35-24.  

???????LaRisha Littlejohn led the Lady Lions back, however, as her lay-up with 13:17 to play capped an 8-0 run that sliced the lead to 39-35.  Littlejohn chipped in nine points in 15 minutes of play.  But senior Allison Nold canned back-to-back buckets to ignite another Lady Pacer run, this one an 11-0 spurt to push ahead 50-35 with 9:19 remaining.  

Mary Ward Parker's three-pointer with 6:12 on the clock cut the advantage to nine, but that was as close as the Lady Lions would get as USCA took the game 67-53.  

???????Szabo led the Lady Pacers with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting and 4-of-8 from the three-point line.  In her last two games, the 5-7 senior from Haverhill, Mass., is shooting 60.0 percent from downtown (9-of-15).  She also added six assists and three steals in 32 minutes.  Nold was also on fire connecting on 6-of-8 from the field to finish with 12 points and seven rebounds.  

Kendrick was the third Lady Pacer in double figures with 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting.  Senior Jami Cornwell provided six points and nine rebounds in 32 minutes off the bench.  Katie Mitchell also added six points off the bench.  

USC Aiken's defense held Holly Carringer to zero points in 34 minutes.  Carringer, the South Atlantic Conference's player of the week, was averaging 22.5 points per game coming into tonight's contest. 
She did grab a team-high five boards.  

Littlejohn and Parker each had nine points, while Serena Roberts, Amy Keith, and April Hatten chipped in seven points each.  

As a team, USCA shot 44.1 percent from the field (26-of-59), 46.7 percent from beyond the arc (7-of-15), and 88.9 percent from the stripe (8-of-9).  Mars Hill was 48.8 percent from the field (21-of-43), 27.3 percent from downtown (3-of-11), and 61.5 percent at the charity line (8-of-13).  

USC Aiken will open Peach Belt Conference play on Saturday, November 30 when they travel across the Savannah River to face rival Augusta State at 5:30 PM.  

SCORING:
#22 Mars Hill (53): Tiffany Atkins 14, LaRisha Littlejohn 9, Mary Ward Parker 9, Serena Roberts 7, Amy Keith 7, Mary Thomas 7

#17 USC Aiken (67): Julie Szabo 16, Allison Nold 12, Sarah Kendrick 10, Jen Kennedy 8, Erica Larsen 7, Jami Cornwell 6, Katie Mitchell 6, Mindy Allee 2