Box Score MORROW, Ga.--USC Aiken's (14-7, 4-3 PBC) road woes continue as the Lady Pacers fell 86-76 to Clayton State (14-5, 6-2 PBC) in women's Peach Belt Conference basketball action on Monday night at the CCSU Athletics Center in Morrow, Ga. The game originally scheduled for Saturday was postponed twice over the weekend due to the ice storm that hit the southeastern United States. 

USCA has now dropped three-straight conference road games and three in a row to the Lady Lakers. The 86 points was the most allowed this season by the Lady Pacers surpassing the 79 given up at Division I Furman University on December 4.

Senior guard Kasey Mills led all scorers with a career-high 25 points on 8-of-14 from the field and 7-of-12 at the line. Mindy Allee added 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting while Nola Grant and Benazura Serbecic just missed double doubles combining for 25 points and 18 rebounds. Grant also chipped in three blocks and four steals. 

Senior Jamika Hindsman, sixth in the PBC in scoring, poured in 13 of her team-high 23 in the second stanza on 6-of-8 from the floor and 11-of-12 at the stripe. Clayton State entered the game 11th in the PBC in free throw percentage at 61.2 percent but connected on 22-of-26 for 84.6 percent. 

April Taylor scored 12 of her 18 off the bench in the second half while Jasmine Patterson added 11 points and pulled down nine boards. 

The Lady Lakers opened hot from the field connecting on 4-of-7 for an early 14-6 lead with 13:27 left until half on Cynthia Conseil's lay-up. USCA best run of the game was a 14-3 spurt capped by Allee's trey from the top of the key with 8:47 on the clock to put the Lady Pacers back in front 20-17.

CCSU's defense clamped down holding the Lady Pacers scoreless over the next four and a half minutes to jump back on top 26-20 on Kalenna Coleman's bucket. Allee converted four free throws to even up the score 26-26 with 3:13 remaining, but Clayton State again had the answer, this time in the form of back-to-back triples by Carlie Anderson as Clayton State led at the break 39-32. Anderson finished with all nine of her points coming on 3-of-4 from deep in the first half. 

A fast 5-0 start to the second half capped an 18-6 run as the Lady Lakers claimed a 44-32 lead on Hindsman's jumper in the paint at 18:23. 

Lana Mandic, coming off a career-high 25 points in her last outing on Wednesday, was held to just eight points. Her only three-pointer of the contest came at 15:28 and cut the deficit to single digits, 48-40, but a Shanakie Ward trey pushed it back to a 55-42 game less than three minutes later. As a team, Clayton State was 8-of-22 from downtown for 36.4 percent. USCA was 5-of-13. 

Kasey Mills sank two free throws with 10:52 remaining to trim the lead to 57-51, but following a defensive rebound and turnover by Mills, Clayton State countered with five straight points to push back out to a double-digit advantage 62-51. 

Trailing 72-61 with 4:04 to play, USC Aiken made its final move. Mills' steal, lay-up and free throw completed a three-point play to trim it to 72-65 with 3:37 on the clock. Following another steal by Mills, her fast break lay-up just rolled off the rim as she drew the foul. After missing both free throws, Ward drilled a three-pointer on the ensuing possession to cap a potential six-point swing and make it 75-65.

USC Aiken remains on top in the North Division standings by a half-game over Augusta State and Lander. The Lady Pacers, who play six games in 13 days, return home for three-straight starting Wednesday, February 2 when USCA hosts rival Francis Marion at 5:30 PM. 

Newspaper Box Score
USC Aiken vs Clayton State
01/31/05 4:00 PM at Morrow, Ga. (Athletics & Fitness Ctr.)

CLAYTON STATE 86, USC AIKEN 76

USC AIKEN (14-7, 4-3 PBC)
Mills, Kasey 8-14 7-12 25; Allee, Mindy 4-7 4-4 14; Grant, Nola 5-11 3-4 13; Serbecic, Benazura 4-10 4-6 12; Mandic, Lana 3-8 1-2 8; Szabo, Beata 0-0 3-4 3; Gebhardt, Katie 0-3 1-2 1; Sumter, Shannon 0-0 0-0 0; Speller, Eboni 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-55 23-34 76.

CLAYTON STATE (14-5, 6-2 PBC)
Hindsman, Jamika 6-8 11-12 23; Taylor, April 6-8 6-6 18; Patterson, Jasmine 4-7 2-2 11; Anderson, Carlie 3-7 0-0 9; Ward, Shanakie 2-2 1-2 7; Catia, Brandi 2-4 1-2 5; Bukowska, Basia 1-3 1-2 4; St. Fort, Marie 1-4 0-0 3; Harp, Shelcey 1-8 0-0 2; Conseil, Cynthia 1-3 0-0 2; Coleman, Kaleena 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 28-56 22-26 86.

USC Aiken...................... 32 44 - 76
Clayton State................. 39 47 - 86

3-point goals-USC Aiken 5-13 (Allee, Mindy 2-4; Mills, Kasey 2-6; Mandic, Lana 1-1; Gebhardt, Katie 0-1; Speller, Eboni 0-1), Clayton State 8-22 (Anderson, Carlie 3-7; Ward, Shanakie 2-2; Patterson, Jasmine 1-3; Bukowska, Basia 1-3; St. Fort, Marie 1-2; Coleman, Kaleena 0-1; Conseil, Cynthia 0-1; Harp, Shelcey 0-2; Catia, Brandi 0-1). Fouled out--USC Aiken-None, Clayton State-None. Rebounds-USC Aiken 37 (Grant, Nola 9; Serbecic, Benazura 9), Clayton State 29 (Patterson, Jasmine 9). Assists-USC Aiken 14 (Allee, Mindy 5), Clayton State 18 (Patterson, Jasmine 3; Hindsman, Jamika 3). Total fouls-USC Aiken 18, Clayton State 24. A-201