Box Score GAFFNEY, S.C.--USC Aiken (5-2) overcame a poor shooting night on the road to post a 68-64 win over Limestone College (0-4) in non-conference women's basketball action on Wednesday night at the Timken Center in Gaffney, S.C. Benazura Serbecic led four Lady Pacers in double figures with 16 points while senior Katie Gebhardt recorded her first career double double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. 

The Lady Pacers knocked off the Lady Saints for the 12th consecutive time dating back to 1988 and improve to 16-7 in the all-time series.

Possibly caught looking ahead to Friday's match-up with top-ranked and defending Division II national champion California (PA), USCA fell behind early, built a double-digit lead midway through the second half, and had to hold off a late Limestone rally for their third-straight win. 

Trailing 7-4, Limestone knocked the Lady Pacers on their heels with a 9-0 run capped by a Jada Blakely free throw at 12:55 to push in front 13-7. Lana Mandic keyed a 9-0 counter run, however, with a three-point play as the Lady Pacers reclaimed the lead 16-13 with 10:10 on the clock. USCA would not trail again. 

Mandic finished with a career-high tying 15 points to go with five boards in 22 minutes. The 6-2 senior from Sarajevo, Bosnia is 13-of-16 from the field (81.3 percent) over her last two games and is among the Peach Belt Conference leaders in field goal percentage on the season at 55.2 percent. 

Tiffany Jones' lay-up with 4:40 left trimmed the margin to 26-21, but a 5-1 run to close the half gave USCA a 31-23 advantage at the break. 

Midway through the second stanza, Limestone made its move cutting a nine-point deficit to 43-40 with 10:42 remaining on another Jones' lay-up. She led the Lady Saints with 20 points on 8-of-18 shooting. 

Leading 46-42, the Lady Pacers used an 18-7 run over the next five minutes to build their largest lead of the game 64-51 with 4:49 to play. Serbecic's three-point play capped the run and also marked the final field goal of the game for USCA.
In the closing 23.5 seconds of the game, USCA was 2-of-6 from the charity stripe to leave the door open for Limestone. Danielle Vieira's triple with 2.4 to play made it 67-64, but one of two free throws by Mindy Allee set the final margin. 

Serbecic was 5-of-7 from the field and 6-of-7 at the line for 16 points and seven boards in 19 minutes. Nola Grant was also in double figures with 10 points, nine rebounds, and three blocks. As a team, USC Aiken recorded eight blocked shots. Mills dished out a career-high seven assists to go with eight points and five rebounds. 

Melissa DeVore and Vieira each scored 14 points for Limestone. As a team, Limestone recovered from 24.2 percent shooting in the first half for a 15-of-29 performance in the second half (51.7 percent). The Lady Saints were 17-of-24 from the stripe for 70.8 percent but just 1-of-13 from downtown for 7.7 percent. 

USC Aiken continued to struggle from the line connecting on only 20-of-37 attempts (54.1 percent) including 8-of-18 in the opening frame (44.4 percent). 

USC Aiken will host #1 California (PA) on Friday, November 26 as part of the Aiken County Merchants Classic at "The Courthouse" at 7:30 PM. #17 Augusta State will take on St. Paul's College at 5:30 PM. 

USC AIKEN 68, LIMESTONE 64
11/24/04 5:30 PM at Gaffney, S.C. (Timken Center)

USC AIKEN (5-2)
Serbecic, Benazura 5-7 6-7 16; Mandic, Lana 6-8 2-5 15; Gebhardt, Katie 4-10 4-6 13; Grant, Nola 4-18 2-8 10; Mills, Kasey 2-12 4-6 8; Allee, Mindy 1-1 2-5 4; Szabo, Beata 1-1 0-0 2; Thomas, Jordon 0-3 0-0 0; Speller, Eboni 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 23-64 20-37 68.

LIMESTONE (0-4)
Jones, Tiffany 8-18 4-7 20; DeVore, Melissa 6-13 2-2 14; Vieira, Danielle 2-6 9-12 14; Williams, Molly 4-4 0-0 8; Adams, Monica 2-4 1-1 5; Blakely, Jada 1-10 1-2 3; Hull, Miranda 0-3 0-0 0; Ellenberger, Kristi 0-1 0-0 0; Robinson, Shelly 0-1 0-0 0; Pirtle, Jodeana 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-62 17-24 64.

3-point goals-USC Aiken 2-9 (Mandic, Lana 1-1; Gebhardt, Katie 1-2; Mills, Kasey 0-4; Thomas, Jordon 0-1; Speller, Eboni 0-1), Limestone 1-13 (Vieira, Danielle 1-3; DeVore, Melissa 0-1; Blakely, Jada 0-5; Hull, Miranda 0-1; Robinson, Shelly 0-1; Pirtle, Jodeana 0-1; Jones, Tiffany 0-1). Fouled out--USC Aiken-None, Limestone-Jones, Tiffany; Pirtle, Jodeana; Williams, Molly; Adams, Monica. Rebounds-USC Aiken 47 (Gebhardt, Katie 10), Limestone 42 (Adams, Monica 7; Vieira, Danielle 7). Assists-USC Aiken 14 (Mills, Kasey 7), Limestone 13 (DeVore, Melissa 5). Total fouls-USC Aiken 20, Limestone 27. A-170.
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