Box Score AIKEN, S.C. – The 16th-ranked University of South Carolina Aiken women's basketball team erased a one-time 12-point deficit in the first half and then emphatically pulled away in a 73-54 Peach Belt Conference victory over Armstrong Atlantic State on Wednesday evening at the Convocation Center.
The Pacers have now won seven straight games.
Down 30-27 at intermission, USC Aiken held a 46-24 scoring advantage over the Pirates in the second half.
USC Aiken (8-1, 2-0 PBC) trailed Armstrong 16-4 with 12:20 remaining in the first half, but closed the half on a 23-14 run to pull within three at intermission. The Pacers came out firing in the second half, outscoring the Pirates, 39-11, over the first almost 15 minutes of the final stanza to pull ahead by 25 at 66-41 with 5:36 left in the contest.
The Pacers concluded the second half shooting a scorching 61.3 percent (19-for-31). USC Aiken shot 54.5 percent (30-for-55) in the game in total.
Armstrong (6-2, 1-1 PBC) ended its evening shooting 37.3 percent (22-for-59) as a team.
The Pirates were unable to knock down a 3-pointer in the game as they were 0-for-10, but the Pacers were 5-for-12 (41.7 percent) from beyond the arc.
Brittany Hill (Mechanicsville, Va./Quinnipiac) finished the Pacer win with a career-high 19 points to go along with five assists and a career-best four steals. Hill was 9-for-11 from the field in the game.
Hill was one of four Pacers in double figures in the game. Hannah DeGraffinreed (Raleigh, N.C./Merrimack College) finished her evening with 14 points, seven rebounds and a career-high tying six assists.
Daniela Tarailo (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point) and Mackenzie Reese (Madison, Wis./Edgewood) were the final Pacers in double figures in the game with each recording 10 points. Tarailo was 4-for-8 from the field in the game.
Reese was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field in the game. She was 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.
D.D. Gipson was the only Pirate in double figures as she came off the bench to score 17 points.
USC Aiken will next head into its holiday break by traveling to play Anderson for the second time in less than a week. The two will meet for the final time in the 2011-12 regular season at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 17 in Anderson, S.C. The Anderson game on Dec. 17 will also mark USC Aiken's final non-conference game of the year.
USC Aiken bested Anderson, 71-63, earlier this week at the Convocation Center.
