Box Score AIKEN, S.C.--Fresh off their 77-68 upset of top-ranked California (PA) on Friday night, the USC Aiken Lady Pacers (7-2) avoided a letdown with a 70-31 win over regional foe St. Paul's College (0-5) in the final game of the Aiken County Merchants Classic on Saturday afternoon. California (PA) survived a scare from #17 Augusta State with a 67-65 victory in the afternoon's first game.
With their fifth-straight victory, the Lady Pacers improved to 25-2 in home non-conference games over the past five seasons (.926).
Benazura Serbecic led three players in double figures with 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting to go with eight rebounds and three steals.
Nola Grant added 16 points and eight boards while
Lana Mandic chipped in 12 points.
USC Aiken bolted to a 17-2 lead on
Eboni Speller's three-pointer with 13:35 on the clock. The Lady Tigers missed their first eight shots from the field until Keycha Johnson's jumper at 11:46. Speller scored seven points and pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench.
Johnson hit another bucket with 7:07 left until halftime, but USC Aiken went on a 14-0 run to push in front 37-8 on Grant's basket with 14.3 to play. Rebecca Edmonds offensive putback at the buzzer set the score at the break 37-10.
Katie Gebhardt's fast break lay-up with 2:33 remaining in the game gave the Lady Pacers their largest lead at 68-29.
Gebhardt scored nine points and pulled down a career-high tying 10 rebounds.
Beata Szabo set a new career mark by dishing out a game-high eight assists. Mandic handed out a career-best five of the team's 26 assists.
The Lady Pacers finished with a 58-18 advantage in points in the paint, 18-6 on fast break points, and 21-6 in points off turnovers. As a team, USC Aiken shot 44.4 percent while holding St. Paul's to 13-of-56 for 23.2 percent from the field. The Lady Pacers also forced six more turnovers and held a dominating 54-32 edge on the boards.
Keiona Johnson led the Lady Tigers with 13 points while Edmonds just missed a double double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
USC Aiken will host Catawba College on Wednesday, December 1 at 5:30 PM in a key early season South Atlantic Region showdown.
Newspaper Box Score
Saint Paul's vs USC Aiken
11/27/04 3:00 PM at Aiken, S.C. (The Courthouse)
USC AIKEN 70, SAINT PAUL'S 31
SAINT PAUL'S (0-5)
Johnson, Keiona 5-14 2-2 13; Edmonds, Rebecca 5-13 0-2 10; Johnson, Keycha 3-7 2-2 8; Lee, Tyanka 0-10 0-0 0; Gaines, Alice 0-12 0-1 0. Totals 13-56 4-7 31.
USC AIKEN (7-2)
Serbecic, Benazura 8-17 3-4 19; Grant, Nola 8-16 0-0 16; Mandic, Lana 6-12 0-0 12; Gebhardt, Katie 4-9 0-0 9; Speller, Eboni 3-9 0-0 7; Szabo, Beata 2-5 0-0 4; Mills, Kasey 1-3 1-2 3; Allee, Mindy 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-72 4-6 70.
Saint Paul's.................. 10 21 - 31
USC Aiken................... 37 33 - 70
3-point goals-Saint Paul's 1-15 (Johnson, Keiona 1-7; Lee, Tyanka 0-1; Gaines, Alice 0-7), USC Aiken 2-12 (Gebhardt, Katie 1-2; Speller, Eboni 1-5; Mandic, Lana 0-2; Szabo, Beata 0-1; Mills, Kasey 0-1; Allee, Mindy 0-1). Fouled out--Saint Paul's-None, USC Aiken-None. Rebounds-Saint Paul's 32 (Edmonds, Rebecca 9), USC Aiken 54 (Speller, Eboni 11). Assists-Saint Paul's 5 (Johnson, Keiona 2; Johnson, Keycha 2), USC Aiken 26 (Szabo, Beata 8). Total fouls-Saint Paul's 12, USC Aiken 12. A-283.
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