Box Score GREENVILLE, S.C.--After giving Division I Furman University (4-1) a stiff challenge, an exhausted USC Aiken (9-3) squad fell short in their upset bid 79-62 in women's non-conference women's basketball at Timmons Arena on Saturday afternoon. The loss snaps the Lady Pacers seven-game winning streak. Kasey Mills tied a career-high with 21 points on 5-of-10 from downtown. 

Playing their third game in four days, the Lady Pacers were the unfortunate victims of a football conflict that forced today's game, originally set for 7:00 PM, to commence at 12:30 PM as to not conflict with Furman's home I-AA playoff game. 

"There is no shame in this loss," said USCA head coach Mike Brandt. "I felt like we gave them as good of a challenge as any team in the Peach Belt could have. After all, they are the best team in the state." 

Brandt referring to Furman's 17-point win at Clemson on Tuesday followed by Clemson's win over South Carolina last night. 

After a slow start out of the gates, Nola Grant brought the Lady Pacers back. Six of six free throws in the opening 1:45 gave the Lady Paladins an 8-0 advantage. Grant had steals and breakaway lay-ups on three straight plays, however, as USC Aiken tied the game 8-8 on two Mills charity tosses at 14:50. 

Free throws were the story in the first half. Furman was 15-of-18 at the line while the Lady Pacers were 2-of-2. The Paladins finished 18-of-21 for the game while USC Aiken was 4-of-4.

Mills drained a three-pointer at 13:07 to give the Lady Pacers their first lead of the game 13-12. A 7-0 run ignited by a Mills' triple and capped by an Eboni Speller bucket pushed USCA in front 25-20 with 7:39 left until half. Mills scored 13 of her game-high 21 in the first half. She finished 7-of-13 from the field to go with six assists and two steals in 36 minutes. 

Four straight points from Mivvi Strickland fueled a 5-0 Furman spurt as they regained the lead 31-29 and claimed a 35-34 advantage at the break. 

The key run of the game came at the start of the second half. Furman scored 13 of the half's first 15 points to post their first double digit lead 48-36 on a pair of triples from Laney Harris and Princess Wells. After an 0-of-4 performance in the first half from deep, the Lady Paladins connected on 5-of-12 in the final stanza for 41.7 percent. 

Back-to-back treys by Mills and Katie Gebhardt trimmed the margin to 54-48 with 12:41 to play. But a 17-6 Furman run proved to be the knock-out punch as Jen Nadalin's fast break lay-up with 5:00 to play made it 71-54. 

Nadalin had the game's only double double with 15 points and 10 boards. Tommi Paris was 8-of-12 from the field for a team-high 20 points to go with five assists and six steals. Katie Roach added 10 points. 
Grant joined Mills as Lady Pacers in double figures with 10 points. Lana Mandic chipped in six points and six rebounds while Gebhardt added seven points and five boards off the bench. 

"I do not regret this game, I just regret it being moved to 12:30," said Brandt in his post game radio show. "I would like to have been able to see these two teams compete with both having been well rested." 

With just eight healthy players, Brandt's starting point guard, sophomore Mindy Allee, was saddled with foul trouble logging only 10 minutes before fouling out. She scored seven points on 3-of-4 shooting. 

USC Aiken will have a change to catch its collective breath and hit the books for finals next week. The Lady Pacers have 11 days before they conclude the 2004 portion of their schedule in a key South Atlantic region game at Carson-Newman in Jefferson City, Tenn. on Wednesday, December 15 at 6:00 PM.
Newspaper Box Score
USC Aiken vs Furman
12/04/04 12:30 p.m. at Greenville, S.C. (Timmons Arena)

FURMAN 79, USC AIKEN 62

USC AIKEN (9-3)
Mills, Kasey 7-13 2-2 21; Grant, Nola 4-10 2-2 10; Gebhardt, Katie 3-9 0-0 7; Allee, Mindy 3-4 0-0 7; Mandic, Lana 3-9 0-0 6; Speller, Eboni 2-6 0-0 4; Serbecic, Benazura 2-5 0-0 4; Szabo, Beata 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 25-60 4-4 62. 

FURMAN (4-1)
PARIS, Tommi 8-12 3-3 20; NADALIN, Jen 3-6 9-10 15; ROACH, Katie 4-7 2-2 10; STRICKLAND, Mivvi 3-4 2-2 8; GANT, Melynda 2-2 2-2 6; LANGE, Jessica 3-5 0-0 6; PHELPS, Chrissy 2-5 0-0 5; HARRIS, Laney 1-9 0-0 3; WELLS, Princess 1-5 0-2 3; WEINGARTNER, Anne 1-1 0-0 3; GILMORE, Adrienne 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-57 18-21 79.

USC Aiken................... 34 28 - 62
Furman........................ 35 44 - 79

3-point goals-USCA 8-23 (Mills, Kasey 5-10; Gebhardt, Katie 1-6; Allee, Mindy 1-2; Szabo, Beata 1-3; Speller, Eboni 0-2), Furman 5-16 (PHELPS, Chrissy 1-1; WEINGARTNER, Anne 1-1; WELLS, Princess 1-4; HARRIS, Laney 1-7; PARIS, Tommi 1-3). Fouled out--USCA-Allee, Mindy, Furman-None. Rebounds-USCA 27 (Mandic, Lana 6), Furman 38 (NADALIN, Jen 10). Assists-USCA 14 (Mills, Kasey 6), Furman 19 (PHELPS, Chrissy 5; PARIS, Tommi 5). Total fouls-USCA 18, Furman 12. A-114