AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken women's basketball team garnered a 64-59 victory over visiting Queens Saturday evening in a non-conference contest.

The Pacers improve to 3-1 on the season while the Royals fall to 2-2.

Head coach Mike Brandt's team was guided by Rachelle Aupont's team-best 17 points. Emry Tsitouris accounted for 11 points and shared team-high accolades with Kassy Johannsen with six rebounds apiece.

Johannsen scored eight markers and swatted away a game-best three blocks. Stephanie Ball led everyone with six assists in the win while Kate Duff added a team-high three thefts.

After starting off the game with an 8-3 deficit five minutes in, Brandt's squad embarked on a 12-0 run that spanned 3:15. During the spurt, Mariah Durian hit a twisting lay-up. Aupont buried a pair of three-point shots, Johannsen made an inside basket and Carly Gilreath drained a jumper.

Leading 15-10 after the first quarter, Jasmine Coach and Aupont hit back-to-back three-point shots for a 21-12 advantage. The Pacers doubled up Queens at 28-14 when Tiffany Addison drove the lane and connected with a runner. USC Aiken kept the margin in double figures at the break, leading 29-20.

With the score at 33-25, Duff converted an old-fashioned three-point play prior to Aupont doing the same thing. Durian's charity toss made it 40-25 with 5:26 to go in the third quarter. The Pacers extended the lead to 17 at 44-27 when Aupont netted a pair of free throws with 3:55 to play. A Tsitouris lay-up off the pass from Johannsen made it 49-35 heading into the fourth quarter.

USC Aiken maintained a 15-point advantage with 6:07 to go in the game when Johannsen took a pass from Tsitouris for an easy bucket. However, the Royals made the game closer than the score indicated, outscoring the home team 13-2 over the final 4:21. The only time the lead diminished to a two-possession game was with 12 seconds remaining. However, Brandt's team ran out the clock for the five-point win.

For the game, the Pacers connected on 22-of-49 shots from the floor (44.9 percent), including seven-of-18 from downtown (38.9 percent). The squad canned 13-of-18 from the charity stripe (72.2 percent).

USC Aiken out-rebounded the visitors 34-30 and held an overwhelming 34-6 advantage in bench points.

The Pacers return to action Monday when they host Johnson C. Smith at 7 p.m. Live stats, video and audio will be available at PacerSports.com.