AIKEN, SC--A first-half explosion from the three-point line in the first half propelled USC Aiken (10-4, 2-1 PBC) to a dominating 78-53 win over UNC Pembroke (6-8, 0-3 PBC) in the Lady Pacers' Peach Belt Conference home opener on Wednesday night at "The Courthouse". USCA drilled 8-of-10 treys in the opening stanza to pick up their ninth-straight win over the Lady Braves. It also marked the 30th win in the last 33 games versus PBC North Division opponents. 

After both teams opened tentative, UNC Pembroke went on a 6-1 run to claim a 13-9 lead with 11:39 left in the opening stanza on Kristin Vaughan's only bucket of the game. It would be the Lady Braves largest lead of the game. UNCP opened 1-of-4 from the field but the Vaughan jumper capped a 6-of-6 streak from the field. 

Trailing 17-14, Sarah Kendrick drained a triple to knot the score with 9:29 remaining and ignite a 13-0 Lady Pacer run. Kendrick hit back-to-back treys and Katie Gebhardt connected on a three-pointer, all in a span on 50 seconds. USCA closed the half on a 29-10 run to take a commanding 43-27 lead at the break. 

Kendrick finished 3-of-5 from the field, 3-of-4 from deep, and 2-of-4 at the stripe in scoring all of her 11 points in the first half. She added four assists and three steals in 26 minutes. Gebhardt also scored all eight of her points in the opening half on 3-of-6 shooting. 

Erica Larsen, who had four points at halftime, scored nine points in the opening 3:41 of the second stanza as USCA registered a 12-4 run to claim a 55-31 advantage with 16:19 remaining. Larsen finished 6-of-10 from the field for a game-high 15 points to go with a career-high-tying five assists in 22 minutes. 

Natasha Stotler converted two free throws with 14:45 to play to trim the margin to 57-36, but it was the closest the Lady Braves would get. USCA quickly countered with a 13-3 run to take a 70-39 lead with 7:44 to play on Kasey Mills fast break bucket. Mills added 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting. 

Benazura Serbecic scored in the paint with 6:19 to play to give USCA its largest lead of the game 74-42, but the Lady Braves outscored the Lady Pacers 11-4 over the final six minutes to set the final margin at 78-53. Serbecic added eight points and a game-high eight rebounds. 

Lindsay Bartholf scored 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting to lead the Lady Braves. Natasha Stotler added nine points and four assists. 

USC Aiken won the battle of the boards 37-34 and outscored UNC Pembroke in the paint (24-14), in second chance points (21-8), and points off turnovers (29-11). The Lady Pacers shot 50.0 percent from the field for the game (29-of-58), 52.6 percent from downtown (10-of-19), and 55.6 percent from the charity stripe (10-of-18). USCA's defense forced 24 turnovers and held the Lady Braves to 24.0 percent shooting in the second half (6-of-25). 

The Lady Pacers are now 7-7 in home conference openers including winners of their last four and improve to 21-6 versus the PBC at home since the start of the 2000-01 season. 

USC Aiken will host Columbus State on Saturday, January 17 at 5:30 PM in a key early season PBC showdown. Columbus State is coming off an upset win over second-ranked North Florida. UNC Pembroke returns home to host Georgia College & State University at 2:00 PM. 

SCORING:

UNC Pembroke (53): Lindsay Bartholf 10, Natasha Stotler 9, Danielle Richardson 8, Koral Stache 8, Melina Savage 5, Larenda Canady 3, Tisha Douglas 3, Kristin Vaughan 3, Tiffany Wright 2, Brittany Locklear 2

USC Aiken (78): Erica Larsen 15, Kasey Mills 13, Sarah Kendrick 11, Katie Gebhardt 8, Benazura Serbecic 8, Lana Mandic 7, Katie Mitchell 6, Haylee Reichert 5, Beata Szabo 5.

Boxscore