Box Score AIKEN, S.C.--
Megan Starnes poured in 13 of her team-high 15 points in the opening half as USC Aiken (10-15, 6-12 PBC) bolted to a 24-7 lead midway through the first half and held off Augusta State (12-15, 6-12 PBC) for the 53-47 win in women's Peach Belt Conference basketball action. The Lady Pacers snap a four-game losing streak to the Lady Jaguars while picking up their second-straight home win.
The Lady Pacers raced to an 18-5 advantage with 9:45 remaining in the half on a Starnes lay-up. After
Mindy Allee opened with USC Aiken's first six points, Starnes scored nine of the team's next 12. A fast-break bucket by Starnes with 6:20 left gave USCA its largest lead of the game 24-7.
After opening 0-of-13 from the field, Eva Vodrazkova connected on a 10-footer in the paint to give Augusta State its first field goal of the game with 6:05 on the clock. Vodrazkova finished with 16 points on 5-of-6 from the field and 5-of-6 at the stripe.
Trailing 29-18 to open the second half, Lauren DeCoud drilled a three-pointer for ASU while Shirrell Ford converted a basket in the paint to draw within 29-23 with 17:40 to play.
Satu Leppanen's lay-up off an Allee feed gave the Lady Pacers their first field goal of the second stanza with 16:39 remaining, igniting a 7-2 run capped by five-straight from
Meredith Legg to extend the margin back into double figures at 36-25. Leppanen scored eight of her 10 in the second half while Allee finished with 11 points and six of the team's 17 assists. Legg scored all five of her points in the span of 27 seconds, but also grabbed five boards before fouling out.
Lauren DeCoud canned a three-pointer and four-straight by Vodrazkova trimmed the margin to 36-32 with 13:09 left. DeCoud added eight points on 2-of-4 from deep for Augusta State.
But the Lady Pacers stretched the lead back out as
Avonte Williams' jumper with 6:00 left made it 51-38, the Lady Pacers largest lead of the second half. It would be, however, the last field goal USCA would score as Leppanen's two charity tosses with 36 ticks left were the only points the Lady Pacers scored the rest of the way.
Augusta State closed within four at 51-47 with 43 seconds remaining before Leppanen's free throws iced the 53-47 win.
Williams had only five points, but pulled down 12 rebounds including seven of the team's 17 offensive rebounds. USC Aiken dominated the glass 37-23.
USC Aiken held Augusta State to 4-of-18 shooting in the first half for 22.2 percent. After heating up to 10-of-20 over the final 20 minutes, the Lady Jags finished at 36.8 percent for the game.
The Lady Pacers connected on 20-of-49 from the field for 40.8 percent in leading the entire 40 minutes. It also marked the team's second-straight win when scoring less than 60 points (previously 1-10).
USC Aiken travels to UNC Pembroke on Wednesday, February 22 for a 5:30 PM showdown with the Lady Braves. Augusta State returns home to host Francis Marion, also on Wednesday at 5:30 PM.
Newspaper Box Score
Augusta State vs USC Aiken
02/20/06 5:30 PM at Aiken, S.C. (The Courthouse)
USC AIKEN 53, AUGUSTA STATE 47
AUGUSTA STATE (12-15, 6-12 PBC)
Vodrazkova, Eva 5-6 5-6 16; Ford, Shirrell 3-6 4-6 10; DeCoud, Lauren 3-9 0-0 8; Paschal, Tiffany 1-4 2-2 4; Robbins, Julie 1-2 0-1 3; Jackson, Sonya 0-4 2-2 2; Paschal, Tracey 1-3 0-0 2; Wyatt, Jamica 0-1 2-5 2; Batovska, Alena 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 14-38 15-22 47.
USC AIKEN (10-15, 6-12 PBC)
Starnes, Megan 6-13 3-3 15; Allee, Mindy 4-7 2-2 11; Leppanen, Satu 3-7 3-5 10; Thomas, Jordon 3-3 0-0 6; Legg, Meredith 2-8 0-0 5; Williams, Avonte 2-6 1-2 5; Chandler, Kendra 0-3 1-2 1; Jones, Keirstin 0-0 0-0 0; Bennett, Nichole 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-49 10-14 53.
Augusta State............... 18 29 - 47
USC Aiken..................... 29 24 - 53
3-point goals-Augusta State 4-9 (DeCoud, Lauren 2-4; Robbins, Julie 1-2; Vodrazkova, Eva 1-1; Batovska, Alena 0-2), USC Aiken 3-17 (Legg, Meredith 1-5; Leppanen, Satu 1-2; Allee, Mindy 1-3; Bennett, Nichole 0-2; Williams, Avonte 0-2; Starnes, Megan 0-3). Fouled out--Augusta State-None, USC Aiken-Legg, Meredith. Rebounds-Augusta State 23 (Wyatt, Jamica 5), USC Aiken 37 (Williams, Avonte 12). Assists-Augusta State 12 (Jackson, Sonya 4), USC Aiken 17 (Allee, Mindy 6). Total fouls-Augusta State 15, USC Aiken 18. A-895.
