Box Score CLINTON, S.C.--Lana Mandic scored a career-high 20 points as USC Aiken (10-4) opened the New Year with a 71-59 win at non-conference rival Presbyterian College (2-9) in women's basketball action on Sunday afternoon. As a team, the Lady Pacers connected on a season-best 10-of-21 attempts from behind the arc. With their third-straight win against the Blue Hose, USC Aiken improves to 15-7 in the all-time series. 

Katie Gebhardt, making her fourth start of the season, added 12 points as did Eboni Speller off the bench. USCA won the battle of the bench 19-9. The victory marks the fifth-straight season that the Lady Pacers have opened up their New Year on a positive note. 

After a fierce opening five minutes that witnessed four ties and two lead changes, the Lady Pacers reeled off a 21-1 run to break open the game, surging ahead 29-11 with 5:59 left until half on Nola Grant's jumper. The junior from Aiken finished with six points and three steals to go with a game-high 10 rebounds. 

During the decisive run, Mandic drained three triples while Speller and Gebhardt each added a trey. Another Speller three-pointer with 3:16 remaining gave the Lady Pacers its largest advantage of the first half 35-15. Before fouling out, Speller connected on 4-of-5 from deep for 12 points and four rebounds in 16 minutes. 

Presbyterian converted 10-of-12 free throws in the final five minutes of the opening stanza just to remain in the contest. For the game, the Blue Hose connected on 30-of-38 attempts (78.9 percent), more than a two-to-one margin over USCA's 9-of-15 performance (60.0 percent). 

Kasey Mills connected on a long range shot with 10:11 to play pushing USCA to its largest lead of the game at 56-34. But a 15-4 spurt pulled Presbyterian sliced the bulge in half at 60-49 with 6:39 on the clock following two charity tosses by Brittany Carroll. She scored eight of her 11 points in the second half. 

USC Aiken, however, held off the charge never relinquishing their double-digit lead and closing out their non-conference schedule with a road win. 

Mandic finished 8-of-11 from the field including her 4-of-4 day from the three-point line, besting her previous career mark of 19 points set three games ago on December 3 in a win over West Virginia Tech. 

Gebhardt's 12 points came courtesy of a 5-of-8 shooting performance. Mills added nine points, five steals, four rebounds, and four assists. Mindy Allee chipped in an all-around game with seven points on 2-of-3 shooting and 3-of-4 at the stripe to go with eight assists and a career-best five steals. As a team, USC Aiken swiped a season-high 15 steals and forced PC into 22 turnovers. 

Rebecca Wessinger paced the Blue Hose with 27 points on 6-of-10 from the field and a near perfect 15-of-16 at the line. Cameron Cook was also in double figures with 10 points. 

USC Aiken will host USC Upstate (formerly USC Spartanburg) in both team's Peach Belt Conference opener on Wednesday, January 5 at 5:30 PM.
Newspaper Box Score
USC Aiken vs Presbyterian College
01/02/05 2:00 PM at Clinton, SC (Ross E. Templeton Center)

USC AIKEN 71, PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE 59

USC AIKEN (10-4)
Mandic, Lana 8-11 0-0 20; Gebhardt, Katie 5-8 1-2 12; Speller, Eboni 4-6 0-0 12; Mills, Kasey 3-11 2-3 9; Allee, Mindy 2-3 3-4 7; Grant, Nola 3-13 0-2 6; Serbecic, Benazura 1-7 3-4 5; Szabo, Beata 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 26-63 9-15 71.

PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE (2-9)
Wessinger, Rebecca 6-10 15-16 27; Carroll, Brittany 2-10 5-6 11; Cook, Cameron 2-4 6-8 10; Campbell, Wesley 1-8 2-4 5; Bonaparte, Brittany 1-4 1-2; Jones, Amy 1-4 0-0 2; Takach, Bridget 0-0 1-2 1; Dobson, Lauren 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 13-42 30-38 59.

USC Aiken............................. 39 32 - 71
Presbyterian College.......... 23 36 - 59

3-point goals-USC Aiken 10-21 (Speller, Eboni 4-5; Mandic, Lana 4-4; Mills, Kasey 1-6; Gebhardt, Katie 1-3; Szabo, Beata 0-2; Serbecic, Benazura 0-1), Presbyterian College 3-16 (Carroll, Brittany 2-6; Campbell, Wesley 1-5; Jones, Amy 0-3; Dobson, Lauren 0-2). Fouled out--USC Aiken-Speller, Eboni, Presbyterian College-None. Rebounds-USC Aiken 40 (Grant, Nola 10), Presbyterian College 36 (Wessinger, Rebecca 7). Assists-USC Aiken 21 (Allee, Mindy 8), Presbyterian College 9 (Wessinger, Rebecca 3). Total fouls-USC Aiken 25, Presbyterian College 15. A-206.