COLUMBUS, Ga. – The nationally ninth-ranked and Peach Belt Conference East Division top-seeded University of South Carolina Aiken women's basketball team earned its first Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship with a 52-47 victory over national No. 3 and PBC West No. 1 Clayton State on Sunday afternoon at the Frank G. Lumpkin Center on the campus of Columbus State.

The victory allowed the Pacers to claim the Peach Belt Conference's automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament.

USC Aiken will learn of its NCAA Tournament destination at 10 p.m. this evening during the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Selection Show on NCAA.com. 

USC Aiken (26-3) opened the game by racing out to a 10-3 lead.

Clayton State (28-3) had cut the Pacer lead to just four with under four minutes play, but the Pacers closed the first stanza on a 6-0 run to take a 10-point lead into intermission.

The Pacers would lead by as many as 15 in the second half, but with 7:36 remaining in the game USC Aiken owned just a one-point advantage at 43-42. 

From there, the Pacers would weather the Laker charge, outscoring Clayton State 9-5 the rest of the way to claim the win.

Peach Belt Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player Hannah DeGraffinreed ended Sunday's championship game win with a game-high 18 points. She also had three rebounds and three assists. 

DeGrafffinreed (Raleigh, N.C./Merrimack College), who scored 14 of her points in the first half, was 6-for-10 from the field in the game. She was a perfect 6-of-6 at the charity stripe.

All-Tournament Team member Kayla Harris (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield HS) was right behind DeGraffinreed with a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. She also had two steals, two blocks and one assist.

Keona Dixon came off the bench to lead two Lakers in double figures in the game with 15 points. Tanisha Woodard added 11.

USC Aiken ended the win over Clayton State shooting 46.3 percent (19-for-41) as a team. The Pacers hit 84.6 percent (11-for-13) of their free throw attempts.

The Pacer defense limited Clayton State to 31 percent (18-for-58) shooting as a team. 

All-Tournament Team

Brittni Johnson, Lander

Domonique Washington, UNC Pembroke

Tanisha Woodard, Clayton State

Kayla Mobley, Clayton State

Kayla Harris, USC Aiken

Tournament MVP

Hannah DeGraffinreed, USC Aiken