Box Score SALISBURY, N.C.--Catawba (1-3) used a decisive 20-4 run midway through the second half en route to a 62-50 win over the visiting USC Aiken Lady Pacers (2-3) in women's non-conference basketball on Friday evening at Goodman Gym. Catawba improves to 4-2 in six all-time meetings with USCA. The Lady Pacers will meet Lenoir-Rhyne, who downed Johnson C. Smith 62-54, tomorrow on the final day of the Catawba Classic.

Cameron Clark's three-pointer at 13:23 of the first half pushed the Lady Indians in front 7-6, but the Lady Pacers responded with a 12-2 run to surge ahead 18-9 with 7:11 remaining on Megan Starnes' jumper. Mindy Allee and Meredith Legg each drained a trey during the run. For Legg, it was her only field goal of the game. 

Catawba would not be out done, however, playing before the home folks for just the second time this season, reeling off 10-straight points to retake the lead 19-18 on Tamekia Foster's three-point play with 5:43 left until half. 

Allee knocked down her second triple of the half with 1:09 to play to help give USC Aiken a 26-22 advantage at the break. Allee scored eight of her 10 points in the opening stanza to go with five rebounds in 32 minutes. 

The Lady Pacers maintained their four-point halftime spread seven minutes into the second half before Hillary Hampton converted a bucket sparking the key 20-4 run as Catawba took control 52-40 on Hannah Davis' three-pointer with 7:55 remaining. Davis scored 10 of her 15 points on the night during that five-minute run. Hampton tied Davis for team-high honors with 15 points while Foster added 11 points and nine rebounds. 

Satu Leppanen connected on the first of two free throws with 3:31 on the clock to pull USC Aiken within 52-47, but eight-straight by the Lady Indians capped by two charity tosses from Foster with 1:06 to play sealed the game. 

Leppanen led all scorers with 17 points on 8-of-12 from the field to go with eight rebounds. The freshman from Espoo, Finland scored 15 of her points in the second half. Starnes finished with eight while Jordon Thomas added four points and a team-high nine rebounds. 

Catawba became the first team this year to out rebound the Lady Pacers holding a 44-37 advantage on the glass. The two teams combined for 47 turnovers, but while USC Aiken went 0-of-6 from the three-point line in the second half, the Lady Indians heated up to 51.6 percent from the field on 16-of-31 over the final 20 minutes. 

USC Aiken will play Lenoir-Rhyne tomorrow at 2:00 PM while Catawba takes on Johnson C. Smith at 4:00 PM. 

Newspaper Box Score
USC Aiken vs Catawba
11/25/05 8:15 PM at Salisbury, N.C (Goodman Gym)

CATAWBA 62, USC AIKEN 50

USC AIKEN (2-3)
Leppanen, Satu 8-12 1-2 17; Allee, Mindy 4-6 0-0 10; Starnes, Megan 2-9 4-4 8; Williams, Avonte 2-7 0-2 4; Chandler, Kendra 0-2 4-6 4; Thomas, Jordon 1-4 2-2 4; Legg, Meredith 1-7 0-0 3; Jackson, Allison 0-3 0-0 0; Jones, Keirstin 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-52 11-16 50.

CATAWBA (1-3)
Hampton, Hillary 6-9 1-3 15; Davis, Hannah 6-18 2-2 15; Foster, Tamekia 4-9 3-3 11; Higgins, Brittany 3-8 0-1 6; Colombo, Gia 2-5 2-2 6; Clark, Cameron 2-4 0-0 5; Muldrow, Corin 1-4 0-1 2; Tackett, Erica 1-1 0-0 2; Childs, Salita 0-1 0-0 0; Baxter, Andrell 0-1 0-0 0; Monroe, Selia 0-1 0-0 0; Easter, Ingrid 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 25-65 8-12 62.

USC Aiken..................... 26 24 - 50
Catawba........................ 22 40 - 62

3-point goals-USC Aiken 3-15 (Allee, Mindy 2-4; Legg, Meredith 1-7; Williams, Avonte 0-1; Thomas, Jordon 0-3), Catawba 4-17 (Hampton, Hillary 2-3; Davis, Hannah 1-6; Clark, Cameron 1-2; Colombo, Gia 0-2; Baxter, Andrell 0-1; Easter, Ingrid 0-3). Fouled out—USC Aiken-None, Catawba-None. Rebounds-USC Aiken 38 (Thomas, Jordon 9), Catawba 45 (Davis, Hannah 9; Foster, Tamekia 9). Assists-USC Aiken 12 (Legg, Meredith 5), Catawba 18 (Colombo, Gia 6). Total fouls-USC Aiken 15, Catawba 19. A-308.