Box Score AIKEN, S.C.--USC Aiken (9-14, 5-11 PBC) built a 16-point first half lead and held off Francis Marion's (9-13, 7-9 PBC) second half comeback for a 57-51 win in women's Peach Belt Conference basketball on Wednesday night. The win snapped a six-game losing streak by the Lady Pacers and gave USC Aiken just its second home conference win in eight tries. The Patriots fall for the seventh time in nine games (AVONTE WILLIAMS PICTURED). 

Francis Marion struggled to find their mark in the first half connecting on just 6-of-30 attempts from the field for 20.0 percent including 1-of-10 from deep. After a 2-2 start to the game, the Lady Pacers reeled off 10-straight following back-to-back three-pointers by Megan Starnes and Meredith Legg as they never trailed in the game. 

Shavone Mack's jumper at 10:54 trimmed the deficit to 16-9, but the Lady Pacers went on a 12-3 run to take their largest lead of the game at 28-12 with 4:06 left on Jordon Thomas' lay-up. Mack swatted four of the team's seven blocked shots to go with eight points and seven rebounds. 

Shooting 12-of-31 in the opening half (38.7 percent), USC Aiken took a 30-17 lead into the locker room at the break. 

After swapping buckets in the opening seconds of the second stanza, six-straight points by Shonelle Downer sliced the deficit in half and pulled the Patriots within seven at 32-25 with 18:15 on the clock. Downer finished with 10 points before fouling out. 

Avonte Williams, however, scored five-straight and Mindy Allee punctuated the 7-0 run with a fast-break lay-up with 16:41 left to pull out in front 39-25. Williams was 6-of-13 from the field including 2-of-3 from deep for a team-high 14 points to go with five boards and three assists. 

Trailing 45-33 with 11:15 remaining, Francis Marion held USCA without a field goal for 5:45, using an 11-1 run to make it a two-point game 46-44 with 5:50 left on Downer's jumper in the paint. But on the ensuing possession, Williams drained her second triple of the night to snap the scoring drought and extend the advantage to five.

Danielle Moore scored the final two of her game-high 19 points with 1:16 left to again make it a two-point game at 53-51, but needing a big shot on the offensive end, freshman Satu Leppanen stroked a 15-footer inside of five ticks left on the shot clock to make it 55-51 with 36 seconds to play. Kirby Marsh's three-point attempt was off the mark for FMU and Leppanen sealed the win with six ticks left with a pair of free throws.

Leppanen finished 5-of-11 from the field for 13 points, her fourth-straight game in double figures. Legg had 10 points and seven rebounds, but missed her only free throw attempt of the game in the first half, ending her streak of 45 consecutive made free throws, eight shy of the NCAA Division II record of 53. 

As a team, Francis Marion heated up to 48.3 percent in the second half on 14-of-29 from the floor, but still finished under 34.0 percent for the game. USCA won the battle of the boards 43-35. 

USC Aiken will travel to Spartanburg, S.C. on Saturday, February 18 to face in-state rival USC Upstate at 2:00 PM. Francis Marion returns home to host Columbus State, also on Saturday at 2:00 PM.

Newspaper Box Score
Francis Marion vs USC Aiken
02/15/06 5:30 PM at Aiken, S.C. (The Courthouse)

USC AIKEN 57, FRANCIS MARION 51

FRANCIS MARION (9-13, 7-9 PBC)
Moore, Danielle 8-16 2-5 19; Downer, Shonelle 5-9 0-0 10; Mack, Shavone 3-7 2-2 8; Guilliams, Renee 2-8 0-0 6; Young, Brittany 1-6 2-4 4; Marsh, Kirby 1-8 2-2 4; Kiefer, Katherine 0-4 0-0 0; Preal, Shaketa 0-1 0-0 0; Gandy-Miller, Sienna 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-59 8-13 51.

USC AIKEN (9-14, 5-11 PBC)
Williams, Avonte 6-13 0-1 14; Leppanen, Satu 5-11 3-4 13; Legg, Meredith 4-8 0-1 10; Starnes, Megan 4-9 0-0 9; Thomas, Jordon 1-8 3-4 5; Allee, Mindy 2-3 0-0 4; Bennett, Nichole 0-2 2-2 2; Jones, Keirstin 0-0 0-0 0; Chandler, Kendra 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 22-57 8-12 57.

Francis Marion............... 17 34 - 51
USC Aiken....................... 30 27 - 57

3-point goals-Francis Marion 3-18 (Guilliams, Renee 2-6; Moore, Danielle 1-2; Young, Brittany 0-2; Marsh, Kirby 0-5; Kiefer, Katherine 0-2; Preal, Shaketa 0-1), USC Aiken 5-15 (Williams, Avonte 2-3; Legg, Meredith 2-5; Starnes, Megan 1-3; Allee, Mindy 0-1; Bennett, Nichole 0-1; Thomas, Jordon 0-1; Leppanen, Satu 0-1). Fouled out--Francis Marion-Downer, Shonelle, USC Aiken-None. Rebounds-Francis Marion 35 (Mack, Shavone 7; Moore, Danielle 7), USC Aiken 43 (Legg, Meredith 7). Assists-Francis Marion 12 (Young, Brittany 8), USC Aiken 16 (Allee, Mindy 4). Total fouls-Francis Marion 15, USC Aiken 13. A-659.