AIKEN, S.C.  – The University of South Carolina Aiken women's basketball team overcame a double-digit deficit in the first half en route to a 57-54 victory over Georgia Southwestern in a Peach Belt Conference contest Saturday evening.

The Pacers improve to 10-7 on the season, including a 6-2 mark against league foes. The Hurricanes fall to 9-6 on the year and are 3-5 against conference competition.

Kassy Johannsen paced USC Aiken with a team-best 12 points to go along with a game-best five blocks. A trio of Pacers accounted for nine points apiece. Amaura Brandt tallied nine points and six rebounds while Carly Gilreath hit three shots from downtown for nine markers. Emry Tsitouris narrowly missed another double-double as she totaled nine points and nine rebounds.

For the game, USC Aiken hit 36.4 percent of its shots (20-of-55), including six-of-17 from behind the three-point stripe (35.3 percent). The difference in the game was at the charity stripe. The Pacers canned 11-of-15 (73.3 percent) while the visitors got to the line just seven times, making five shots (71.4 percent).

In the opening half, head coach Mike Brandt's team found itself trailing 9-0 just 3:51 into the contest. The deficit grew to 11 when it was 17-6 at the 12:07 mark. However, a jumper by Reese sliced the deficit to nine and it sparked a 10-0 run by the home team.

During the spurt, Brandt drove the wing for a lay-up and Gilreath connected on a pair of three-point baskets, making it 17-16.

After the Hurricanes regained an eight-point edge at the 5:52 mark, Emry Tsitouris canned back-to-back buckets and Brandt hit another three-pointer for a 24-23 score. Trailing 26-23, Kate Duff converted an old-fashioned three-point play, knotting the score at 26.

Five straight points by the Pacers, coming on another shot from downtown by Gilreath and a lay-up from Kassy Johannsen, allowed the home squad to take its first lead of the contest at 31-29. Georgia Southwestern scored on a late shot, sending the teams to the locker room tied at 31.

A back-and-forth affair in the early going of the second half saw the Pacers hold a lead for nearly five minutes before the visitors reeled off four straight for a three-point lead. Kate Duff answered the call with a three-point basket, knotting the contest at the 12:05 mark with the score at 40-40.

The Hurricanes built a four-point lead with just over nine minutes to go until Tsitouris made three foul shots, trimming the margin to one at the 8:34 mark.

Stephanie Ball stepped behind the arc and hit a three-point basket, giving USC Aiken a 48-46 lead with just 8:00 to go. The Hurricanes would tie the game at 54 with 2:14 to play, but Brandt's defense held the visitors without another point.

With 1:28 to go, Johannsen was fouled and calmly hit a pair of charity tosses for a 56-54 edge. On the other end of the court, she swatted away a pair of shots that would have tied it prior to Ball hitting one-of-two free throws, securing the three-point win.

The Pacers return to action Monday when they travel to Montevallo. Tip-off is slated for 2:30 p.m., EST.