Box Score AIKEN, S.C.--Armstrong Atlantic State (6-4, 1-2 PBC) built an early 18-point second-half advantage and held off a furious Lady Pacer rally to down USC Aiken (4-5, 0-2 PBC) 75-70 in women's Peach Belt Conference basketball action on Friday evening. Showing the effects of a 27-day lay-off from their last competition, the Lady Pacers fell behind 20-6 in the opening 10 minutes of the first half and faced an uphill battle all night
(AVONTE WILLIAMS PICTURED).
Helping the Lady Pirates' cause was the return of standout Audosha Kelley. Sitting out the first nine games of the season after being declared ineligible last year, the PBC's second leading scorer in 2004-05 at 18.2 ppg made her season debut tonight adding 16 points, six rebounds, four assists, and four steals in 37 minutes.
Avonte Williams slashed and scored 42 seconds into the game to give USC Aiken its only lead at 2-0. Tied 4-4, Armstrong Atlantic State scored the next 13 points to bolt in front 17-4 with 11:19 left in the first half on one of two free throws by Ashley Duhart.
Gathering themselves after the 7-of-12 start from the field by AASU, the Lady Pacers poured in 10 of the game's next 11 points to pull within 23-18 on
Satu Leppanen's bucket in the paint. But the key run of the game came in the waning five minutes of the first half. The Lady Pirates out scored USCA 15-6 heading into the locker room to take a 40-24 lead at the break.
Armstrong Atlantic State did most of its damage in the first half off 14 Lady Pacer miscues translating to 17 points. USCA managed just four points off 12 Lady Pirate turnovers.
Kaneetha Gordon opened the final frame with back-to-back buckets as AASU took its largest lead 44-26 with 19:01 to play before the Lady Pacers made another charge. A 13-2 run capped off by a
Meredith Legg trey with 14:59 remaining whacked the deficit to 46-39.
It was the first three-pointer of the game for USCA as Legg connected on 4-of-8 in the second half to score all her career-best 14 points in the final 20 minutes.
The game of runs continued as Peaches Howard converted two charity tosses to extend the margin back to a dozen at 57-45 with 11:00 remaining. An 11-4 spurt drew the Lady Pacers within striking distance at 61-56 just three minutes later after
Mindy Allee's lay-up at 8:10.
Ahead 67-62, AASU got two key plays from two key players. First was Gordon's offensive putback of a missed Alicia Durham three and then a steal and bucket by Kelley made it 71-62 with 2:30 to play.
Legg's triple with 11.6 left cut it to a 74-70 deficit, but one of two free throws by Kelley was enough to seal the deal.
Gordon finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds on 7-of-11 from the field while Lacey Williams came off the bench for a career-high 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
Williams led the Lady Pacers with her second double double of the season scoring 15 to go with 12 rebounds and six assists.
Kendra Chandler sparked the Lady Pacers off the bench with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting while Allee scored all nine of her points in the second half.
USC Aiken out shot Armstrong Atlantic State 48.2 percent to 41.2 percent, but a 24-13 differential in points off turnovers proved to be the difference.
USC Aiken will travel to Columbus, Ga. on Wednesday, January 4 for a PBC match-up with Columbus State at 5:30 PM. AASU returns home to Savannah, Ga. to host Francis Marion, also on January 4 at 5:30 PM.
Newspaper Box Score
Armstrong Atlantic State vs USC Aiken
12/30/05 5:30 PM at Aiken, S.C. (The Courthouse)
ARMSTRONG ATLANTIC STATE 75, USC AIKEN 70
ARMSTRONG ATLANTIC STATE (6-4, 1-2 PBC)
Willis, Lacey 8-12 2-4 18; Gordon, Kaneetha 7-11 1-2 16; Kelley, Audosha 6-18 2-4 16; Griffiths, Tana 2-7 0-0 6; Howard, Peaches 1-5 4-5 6; Durham, Alicia 2-3 2-2 6; Brown, Sarah 1-3 0-0 3; Herron, Jasmine 1-5 1-2 3; Duhart, Ashley 0-4 1-2 1. Totals 28-68 13-21 75.
USC AIKEN (4-5, 0-2 PBC)
Williams, Avonte 5-11 5-7 15; Legg, Meredith 5-11 0-0 14; Chandler, Kendra 5-7 1-4 11; Allee, Mindy 4-7 0-0 9; Leppanen, Satu 4-7 0-0 8; Thomas, Jordon 3-6 0-0 6; Jones, Keirstin 1-2 1-1 3; Bennett, Nichole 0-1 2-2 2; Starnes, Megan 0-4 2-2 2. Totals 27-56 11-16 70.
Armstrong Atlantic State...... 40 35 - 75
USC Aiken................................ 24 46 - 70
3-point goals-Armstrong Atlantic State 6-18 (Kelley, Audosha 2-4; Griffiths, Tana 2-6; Gordon, Kaneetha 1-2; Brown, Sarah 1-2; Duhart, Ashley 0-1; Herron, Jasmine 0-2; Durham, Alicia 0-1), USC Aiken 5-17 (Legg, Meredith 4-9; Allee, Mindy 1-3; Jones, Keirstin 0-1; Bennett, Nichole 0-1; Starnes, Megan 0-1; Williams, Avonte 0-2). Fouled out--Armstrong Atlantic State-None, USC Aiken-None. Rebounds-Armstrong Atlantic State 39 (Gordon, Kaneetha 11), USC Aiken 40 (Williams, Avonte 12). Assists-Armstrong Atlantic State 20 (Kelley, Audosha 4), USC Aiken 17 (Williams, Avonte 6). Total fouls-Armstrong Atlantic State 15, USC Aiken 18. A-489.
