Box Score

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. - The University of South Carolina Aiken women's basketball team continued its recent dominance with a 67-44 victory over Flagler in Peach Belt Conference women's basketball action at Flagler Gym on Monday evening.

USC Aiken is currently playing some of its best basketball of the 2009-10 season, having won six of its last seven games. The Pacers' last five wins have come by 13 or more points. The last three victories have seen the Pacers win by 20 or more.

The Pacers, who have won three straight, are now 12-10 overall. The win over Flagler moved the Pacers above .500 in league action at 7-6.

Flagler dropped to 7-14 overall with the loss to the streaking Pacers. The Saints are 2-10 in league outings in the 2009-10 season.

Flagler opened things in the contest by scoring the first six points. USC Aiken scored its first bucket of the contest at the 15:48 mark of the first half when Deandra Schirmer (Holton, Kan./Cloud County) scored a lay-up off an assist from Daniela Tarailo (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point).

The basket by Schirmer would be the beginning of a 14-4 run for the Pacers over the next four minutes with USC Aiken owning a four-point 14-10 lead with 11:05 remaining in the first half.

Five minutes later, USC Aiken and Flagler were tied at 19-19. From there the Pacers were able to go on a 14-7 run to enter intermission with a 33-26 lead.

The Pacers as a team finished the first half having taken 18 more shots than the Saints at 38-20. The total attempts coupled with 16 turnovers by Flagler in the half plus USC Aiken hitting six three-pointers helped negate a 32 percent (12-of-38) shooting performance in the first half for the Pacers.

Triahna Harris (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) was the catalyst for the Pacer attack in the first half. Harris only scored two points, but she procured four steals and dished our six assists in the first half of play.

Flagler shot 50 percent (10-for-20) from the field in the first half. They were only able to connect on one three-pointer. USC Aiken made three of their four free throw attempts in the half, while the Saints were able to knock down five free throws.

USC Aiken did not slow down from the outset of the second half, scoring 17 of the first 21 points in the second half to own a 20-point 50-30 lead with 12 minutes remaining in the contest.

The Pacer defense held the Saints to just two field goals in the first eight and a half minutes of the second half. Flagler went without a field goal from the 16:57 mark to the 11:07 mark of the second half.

USC Aiken would not let the Saints get any closer as the Pacers were up by 21 points at 63-42 with 2:06 left in the contest. The Pacers would close the game on a 4-2 run to acquire the 23-point win over the Saints.

The Pacers were balanced in the contest with 10 players scoring. Three Pacers finished in double figures with Hannah DeGraffinreed (Raleigh, N.C./Merrimack College) leading the way with 12 points. In total, three Pacers finished in double figures with Catherine Cain (Dayton, Ohio/Dayton) and Brittany Bowen (Ellicot City, Md./Mt. Hebron) also finishing in double digits.

Cain scored 10 points in the game. She also corralled 11 rebounds to finish with her third double-double of the year. Bowen ended the game with 10 points.

Harris finished with the two points, but she was able to collect four assists in the second half to finish with a career-high 10 assists. Harris also had five steals in the game.

Flagler had two players finish in double figures as Charlsea Owen (12) and Chanti Beckett (10) both netted double figures.

The Pacers improved from the field dramatically in the second half as they concluded the contest hitting upon 27 of their 70 field goal attempts (39 percent) in the game. Flager shot 38 percent (18-for-47) from the field in the contest.

For the third year in a row, USC Aiken's Lady Pacers will honor local Breast Cancer Survivors in their next outing. This year the Lady Pacers will show these special heroes their love on Feb. 11, at their 5:30 p.m. game against Montevallo, in the Convocation Center.

The "Pink Zone" game is part of a men's and women's basketball twinbill at the Convocation Center as the Pacer men will take on the Montevallo men immediately following the women's game at approximately 7:30 p.m.

For the Lady Pacers' "Pink Zone" game, all fans are asked to wear pink. USC Aiken will take $2 from each admission ticket sold and donate it to the Savannah River Cancer Foundation. There will also be special door prizes available to win throughout the Lady Pacers' game as well as the Pacers' men's game.

A special halftime tribute to honor breast cancer survivors will be part of the evening's activities. The honorees will be introduced and invited to come down on the court with the Lady Pacers. 

USC Aiken women's basketball has teamed up with over 600 other schools around the country to participate in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) 2010 "Pink Zone" initiative. The WBCA's "Pink Zone" program is a global, unified effort for the WBCA's nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities, and beyond.