Box Score SAVANNAH, Ga.--USC Aiken (8-11, 4-8 PBC) rallied from a 10-point deficit inside of nine minutes to play to take a 61-58 lead, but Armstrong Atlantic State (11-9, 6-7 PBC) proved to be too tough at home, pulling out the 67-62 win in women's Peach Belt Conference basketball action. The Lady Pirates win for the third-straight time while the Lady Pacers drop their third consecutive conference contest(AVONTE WILLIAMS PICTURED). 

Both teams opened cold from the field until Kaneetha Gordon's three-pointer at the 17:01 mark of the first half represented the first points of the game for either team. Avonte Williams got the Lady Pacers on the board one minute later after USCA opened 0-of-5 from the field with four turnovers. 

Mindy Allee's lay-up with 8:30 left until half cut it to a two-point AASU lead at 19-17. But a lay-up by Peaches Howard with 6:21 on the clock ignited a 13-4 Lady Pirate run to push their lead into double figures at 32-21 on a three-point play by Alicia Durham with 1:40 remaining. Sarah Brown and Gordon each had a trey during the run as AASU, the worst three-point shooting team in the league at 26.9 percent, connected on 6-of-17 in the first half for 35.3 percent. 

Durham added a bucket with six seconds left to set the halftime margin at 34-25. Durham poured in 16 of her game-high 20 in the opening 20 minutes. 

Following a Howard bucket 22 seconds into the final frame, USC Aiken reeled off 11 of the next 13 points to get within 38-36 with 16:14 to play on a Megan Starnes three-pointer. Starnes scored seven of her 10 points during the run. 

After sitting out most of the first half with foul trouble, Audosha Kelley got her first points of the contest at 15:18 to push it back to a six-point cushion for Armstrong Atlantic State. Kelley finished with 13 second-half points on 6-of-19 shooting. 

Kelley's jumper in the paint with 8:19 remaining extended the Lady Pirate advantage back into double digits at 55-45. But that's when the young, but determined Lady Pacer squad made their final run. Allee drilled a trifecta with 5:47 left to give USCA its first lead since it was 4-3 four minutes into the game. Williams followed that up with a jumper at 4:31 to cap the 16-3 Lady Pacer run as they charged in front 61-58. 

USC Aiken had two more trips down the floor to try and build on their three-point spread, but came up empty as Ashley Duhart drained a three with 3:43 left to knot the game at 61-61. 

Kelley's jumper with 2:50 left gave AASU back the lead 63-61. The Lady Pacers had opportunities to tie back up, but after two missed field goals and a turnover, Kelley converted another bucket in the paint to make it a 65-61 game. 

Trailing 65-62 with until 40 seconds to play, USCA had one final shot, but another turnover ended the threat. Durham converted both free throws with 17 ticks left to set the final score at 67-62. 

Williams finished with her fourth double double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds to go with three steals. Legg and Allee tied for team-high honors with 12 points. Legg was 4-of-8 from the field and 2-of-2 at the line to increase her consecutive free throws made streak to 40. Allee went 5-of-11 from the field to go with five assists. In addition to her 10 points, Starnes pulled down a career-best eight rebounds as USC Aiken dominated the glass 45-35. 

USC Aiken shot 42.4 percent from the field (25-of-59) but were just 4-of-14 from behind the arc for 28.6 percent. The Lady Pacers also committed 22 turnovers compared to just 12 for Armstrong Atlantic State as the Lady Pirates finished with a 28-8 advantage on points off those miscues.

USC Aiken will take on rival Augusta State on Monday, February 6 in Augusta, Ga. at 5:30 PM.

Newspaper Box Score
USC Aiken vs Armstrong Atlantic
02/04/06 2:00 PM at Savannah, Ga. (Alumni Arena)

ARMSTRONG ATLANTIC 67, USC AIKEN 62

USC AIKEN (8-11, 4-8 PBC)
Legg, Meredith 4-8 2-2 12; Allee, Mindy 5-11 1-1 12; Williams, Avonte 5-11 0-0 10; Starnes, Megan 4-10 1-1 10; Leppanen, Satu 3-10 2-4 8; Chandler, Kendra 2-2 0-0 4; Bennett, Nichole 1-4 2-2 4; Jones, Keirstin 1-1 0-0 2; Thomas, Jordon 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-59 8-10 62.

ARMSTRONG ATLANTIC (11-9, 6-7 PBC)
Durham, Alicia 7-15 5-5 20; Kelley, Audosha 6-19 1-2 13; Brown, Sarah 3-5 0-0 9; Gordon, Kaneetha 3-5 0-0 8; Howard, Peaches 3-6 0-1 6; Duhart, Ashley 2-3 0-2 5; Griffiths, Tana 1-3 0-0 3; Mason, Ashley 0-2 3-4 3; Willis, Lacey 0-1 0-0 0; Anderson, Jennifer 0-1 0-0 0; Herron, Jasmine 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 25-65 9-14 67.

USC Aiken......................... 25 37 - 62
Armstrong Atlantic......... 34 33 - 67

3-point goals-USC Aiken 4-14 (Legg, Meredith 2-4; Allee, Mindy 1-3; Starnes, Megan 1-1; Bennett, Nichole 0-1; Leppanen, Satu 0-4; Williams, Avonte 0-1), Armstrong Atlantic 8-27 (Brown, Sarah 3-5; Gordon, Kaneetha 2-3; Durham, Alicia 1-6; Duhart, Ashley 1-2; Griffiths, Tana 1-3; Anderson, Jennifer 0-1; Herron, Jasmine 0-3; Kelley, Audosha 0-4). Fouled out--USC Aiken-None, Armstrong Atlantic-None. Rebounds-USC Aiken 45 (Williams, Avonte 10), Armstrong Atlantic 35 (Gordon, Kaneetha 9). Assists-USC Aiken 12 (Allee, Mindy 5), Armstrong Atlantic 15 (Durham, Alicia 4). Total fouls-USC Aiken 16, Armstrong Atlantic 14. A-234.