Box Score AIKEN, S.C.--
Lana Mandic scored a career-high 25 points as USC Aiken (14-6, 4-2 PBC) stayed perfect at home on the season with a 69-54 win over UNC Pembroke (10-8, 2-5 PBC) on Wednesday night in women's Peach Belt Conference basketball. The Lady Pacers, ranked ninth in the latest region poll released earlier in the day, won their 11th straight over the Lady Braves to remain on top in the North Division standings.
Mandic connected on 10-of-14 shots from the field including drilling 4-of-5 from the three-point line for a career-high 25 points in 27 minutes of action.
Kasey Mills added 14 points on 5-of-11 from the floor to go with four assists and four steals.
After UNC Pembroke opened a sizzling 52.2 percent from the field in the first stanza, USC Aiken's defense adjusted to hold the conference's second best shooting team to just 6-of-20 over the final 20 minutes (30.0 percent).
Three-point sharpshooter Lindsay Bartholf drained the game's first field goal to give the Lady Braves an early 3-2 lead. Mandic's first trey of the night pushed USCA back in front 7-5 with 15:48 on the clock. UNCP, however, then went on a 13-4 run to take its largest advantage of the game 18-11 on Victoria Willis' jumper with 8:58 left until half. Willis finished with six points.
Trailing 22-20, USCA scored 12 of the game's next 14 points fueled by back-to-back triples by Mandic and Mills to stake their largest claim 32-24 with 2:32 remaining. After opening 4-of-14 from the field through 11 minutes, the Lady Pacers connected on eight of their next nine in building the eight-point lead. The Lady Braves regrouped, however, and closed the half on an 8-0 run thanks in part to three-pointers by Bartholf and Tracey Lightfoot. USCA closed the final 2:32 going 0-of-5 with one turnover.
Willis converted a jumper in the paint 37 seconds into the second half to put UNCP back in front 34-32, but the Lady Pacers' defense clamped down, holding the Lady Braves without a field goal for nearly 10 minutes.
Bartholf entered the game leading the Lady Braves and ranking second in the PBC in scoring at 16.3 ppg. After 11 in the first half, her only points of the final frame came with 9:56 showing on the clock to break the field goal drought and pull her team with four at 44-40.
Eboni Speller connected on a long jumper as the shot clock expired and
Katie Gebhardt drained back-to-back treys as USCA posted its first double-digit lead 52-40 with 8:18 to play. Speller finished with eight points, a team-high seven rebounds, and a career-best five assists. Gebhardt scored all 12 of her points in the second half on 4-of-6 shooting. The Lady Pacers won going away taking their largest lead at the end 69-54 on a Mandic three-pointer.
The Lady Pacers out rebounded UNC Pembroke 35-24. Sophomore point guard
Mindy Allee dished out seven of the team's 21 assists to go with five rebounds and no turnovers. As a team, USCA committed just 12 miscues while forcing the Lady Braves into 17.
Danielle Richardson led UNC Pembroke with 19 points on 6-of-13 from the field and 7-of-8 at the line to go with eight rebounds. Bartholf added 14 points in 40 minutes.
USC Aiken will travel to Morrow, Ga. on Saturday, January 29 to face Clayton State at 5:30 PM. UNC Pembroke will play at Armstrong Atlantic State, also on Saturday at 5:30 PM.
Newspaper Box Score
UNC Pembroke vs USC Aiken
01/26/05 5:30 PM at Aiken, S.C. (The Courthouse)
USC AIKEN 69, UNC PEMBROKE 54
UNC PEMBROKE (10-8, 2-5 PBC)
Richardson, Danielle 6-13 7-8 19; Bartholf, Lindsay 4-10 2-2 14; Lightfoot, Tracey 3-4 0-0 7; Vaughan, Kristin 1-6 4-4 6; Willis, Victoria 3-9 0-0 6; Wright, Tiffany 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 18-43 13-14 54.
USC AIKEN (14-6, 4-2 PBC)
Mandic, Lana 10-14 1-1 25; Mills, Kasey 5-11 3-4 14; Gebhardt, Katie 4-6 1-2 12; Speller, Eboni 4-10 0-0 8; Grant, Nola 2-6 0-0 4; Serbecic, Benazura 2-7 0-0 4; Allee, Mindy 0-4 2-2 2; Sumter, Shannon 0-0 0-0 0; Szabo, Beata 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-60 7-9 69.
UNC Pembroke.............. 32 22 - 54
USC Aiken....................... 32 37 - 69
3-point goals-UNC Pembroke 5-13 (Bartholf, Lindsay 4-8; Lightfoot, Tracey 1-2; Willis, Victoria 0-3), USC Aiken 8-21 (Mandic, Lana 4-5; Gebhardt, Katie 3-4; Mills, Kasey 1-4; Allee, Mindy 0-2; Szabo, Beata 0-1; Speller, Eboni 0-5). Fouled out--UNC Pembroke-None, USC Aiken-None. Rebounds-UNC Pembroke 24 (Richardson, Danielle 8), USC Aiken 35 (Speller, Eboni 7). Assists-UNC Pembroke 10 (Bartholf, Lindsay 3; Lightfoot, Tracey 3), USC Aiken 21 (Allee, Mindy 7). Total fouls-UNC Pembroke 7, USC Aiken 12. A-770.
