Box Score AIKEN, SC--Junior forward Erica Larsen's rebound bucket with 2.7 remaining lifted USC Aiken (12-4, 3-2 PBC) to a 68-66 win over Peach Belt Conference rival Francis Marion (5-8, 0-5 PBC) in women's basketball Monday night at "The Courthouse".  Jami Cornwell scored a career-high 35 points to lead USCA to its 19th straight home win.  

Already playing without starting center Katie Mitchell who was injured in the first half of Saturday's overtime loss at Clayton State and did not dress tonight, the Lady Pacers were dealt another blow in the first half.  Senior forward Allison Nold went down with about four minutes to play in the first half and did not return. 

Cornwell and fellow First-Team All-Conference backcourt mate Julie Szabo combined for 55 points for USCA.  Cornwell was 13-of-18 from the field and 9-of-11 at the charity stripe, just missing Tisha England's 12-year-old school record of 37 points in a game.  Cornwell's previous career-high, ironically, was 33 points coming on January 2, 2000 against Francis Marion.  Larsen added five points as four other Lady Pacers capped the scoring with two points each.  

???????Szabo's three-pointer with 2:07 to play extended the Lady Pacers lead to 66-60.  However, Jontell Johnson and Joanna Tincher combined for four free throws and Johnson hit a jumper in the paint with 18 seconds to play to tie the game at 66-66.  

Following a USCA timeout, Cornwell penetrated off the inbound pass, put up a shot that rattled out, but Larsen's follow was good.  Michelle Ghere's half courter as time expired was no good.  USCA held on to beat Francis Marion for the third straight time.  

USC Aiken opened the game sluggish missing its first eight field goal attempts.  Szabo hit a driving layup with 15:20 on the clock to give the Lady Pacers their first made shot and cut the Patriot lead to 9-4.  

???????Ghere hit a pair of free throws with 12:09 left in the first half to give FMU its biggest lead of the game at 16-8.  The Lady Pacers countered with an 11-0 run of their own, eventually retaking the lead 17-16 on a Cornwell jumper from the left elbow at 9:58.  The lead changed hands six more times before USCA settled on a 36-33 half time advantage.  

???????Tincher's three-pointer with 15:11 to play in the second half sliced a five-point USCA lead to two at 43-41.  But an 8-0 run fueled by three straight buckets from Cornwell allowed USCA to open up a 51-41 spread with 12:13 on the clock.  The Lady Pacers would again lead by 10 at 61-51 on a Cornwell layup with 6:55 to play, their largest lead of the game.  

Marta Losonczy scored 14 of her career-high 16 points in the first half for the Patriots.  The Charleston Southern transfer's performance was a large chunk of the Patriots 32 bench points.  Tincher also added a career-nigh with 14 points while Johnson chipped in 12.  

???????USCA won the battle of the boards 36-29 and committed just 12 turnovers, but struggled shooting the ball.  The Lady Pacers finished 40.4 percent from the field including 3-of-12 from the three-point line. 
At the stripe, the conference's leading free throw shooting team was 19-of-23 for 82.6 percent.  Francis Marion also connected on 19 free throws but attempted six more than USCA for a 65.5 percentage.    

The Lady Pacers return to action on Wednesday, January 15 when they host the PBC's lone unbeaten team in Armstrong Atlantic State University (12-1, 5-0 PBC) at 5:30 PM.  

SCORING:
Francis Marion (66): Marta Losonczy 16, Joanna Tincher 14, Jontell Johnson 12, Michelle Ghere 8, Nikki Jerome 6, Jennifer Howard 5, Courtenay Etheredge 2, Vaughn Bowen 2, Danielle Moore 1

USC Aiken (68): Jami Cornwell 35, Julie Szabo 20, Erica Larsen 5, Sarah Kendrick 2, Allison Nold 2, Mindy Allee 2, Jen Kennedy 2