AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken women's basketball team hit 13 three-point baskets en route to an 81-56 victory over North Georgia.

The Pacers are now 16-10 overall, including a 12-5 mark against conference foes. The Nighthawks fall to 20-6 on the year and are also 12-5 in the league.

Redshirt-sophomore Amaura Brandt poured in a career-high tying 26 points in the win. She buried eight-of-nine shots from downtown and connected on both of her charity tosses. Brandt narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Brandt was outstanding in the opening half, hitting seven-of-eight from deep as USC Aiken opened a 46-29 lead at the break.

Emry Tsitouris accounted for a double-double with 15 points and a game-best 13 rebounds. Mackenzie Reese added 11 points, five boards and five assists in her last regular-season home game.

Kassy Johannsen totaled four points, but blocked a game-high six shots. She also snagged eight rebounds.

For the game, USC Aiken canned 23-of-56 shots from the floor (41.1 percent) while limiting the visitors to 30.8 percent. The Pacers hit 13-of-26 from the three-point stripe and made 22 free throws.

Head coach Mike Brandt's team held a 45-36 advantage on the glass and dished out 17 assists on 23 field goals. USC Aiken also garnered 23 points off turnovers and held a 25-8 margin in second-chance points.

Brandt's team trailed 3-0 and were held scoreless until Reese hit a jumper at the 18-minute mark. The Pacers knotted it at 6-6 when Stephanie Ball drilled a three-pointer on the wing and a three-point play by Tsitouris pushed the margin to three, 9-6.

The squads battled back-and-forth, but a pair of free throws by Johannsen made it a 14-13 contest. Brandt netted three consecutive shots from downtown, giving the Pacers a 23-17 lead. Carly Gilreath nailed a jumper, giving the squad a 25-17 lead. Brandt hit a three-pointer and Tsitouris scored three more for a 31-17 advantage.

Although the margin was trimmed to five at 31-26, Brandt hit another three-pointer prior to Jasmine Coach getting a rebound and putting the shot up and in. Coach's lay-up sparked a 12-0 run to finish the half for the Pacers. During the run, Brandt hit two more three-pointers, Reese hit two free throws and Coach netted another field goal for the 17-point edge at intermission.

USC Aiken quickly pushed the lead to 20 points when Ball hit an old-fashioned three-point play.

The visitors cut the score to 17 on a few occasions, but Brandt's team was not seriously threatened the rest of the way thanks to an all-around solid performance by the entire team.

USC Aiken led by 20 with 2:57 to play before Gilreath hit a pair of free throws and Brandt hit her final long-distance shot of the night. After a jumper by North Georgia, Alexis Ware drilled a shot from downtown for a 27-point advantage with just 50 seconds remaining.

The Pacers return to action Saturday when they travel to Francis Marion for a 1:30 p.m., contest.