AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken women's basketball team lost a 63-51 contest to the visiting Armstrong State Pirates Wednesday evening in a Peach Belt Conference game.

The Pacers are now 8-12 on the season and 3-8 against conference competition. The Pirates are 12-8 overall and 4-7 against league foes.

Leading the way for head coach Mike Brandt's team were a pair of Pacers as Kassy Johannsen and Aubrey Lukacsko each netted 11 points. Jasmine Coach and Alexis Ware tallied 10 points apiece while Carly Gilreath chipped in five.

Johannsen narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds. She also swatted away four shots. Katelyn Grisillo led the team with three assists while Kate Duff and Johannsen registered two steals apiece. 

USC Aiken jumped out to a 5-2 advantage after a three-point shot by Jasmine Coach and a jumper by Kate Duff, but the Pirates answered with an 8-0 run. Aubrey Lukacsko put an end to the drought with a shot from downtown, pulling the team within a bucket at 10-8. However, Armstrong State maintained a 15-9 advantage heading into the second frame.

Brandt's team fell behind 22-9, but Katelyn Grisillo put the squad on the board with a mid-range jumper with 3:46 to go in the second period. After that, the shots started falling once again for the home team. Ware buried a three-pointer and Gilreath got into the action with a basket. With under a minute to play in the half, Ware canned a three-pointer, pulling the team within one at 22-21, but the Pirates hit a shot just before the buzzer for a four-point halftime lead.

After the break, USC Aiken trailed by as many as eight in the third frame, but a three-pointer by Gilreath sliced the deficit to just three with 59 seconds to go. 

The Pirates slowly increased their lead in the final quarter, leading by as many as 12 late in the contest. Brandt's squad tried to get back into it, trimming the margin to single digits on a pair of occasions as Coach hit shots, but the team was unable to get any closer than nine the rest of the way.

For the game, USC Aiken hit 20 shots from the floor, including seven of which were from downtown. The team forced 15 turnovers and converted the miscues into 10 points. Brandt's team also held a 7-4 edge in fastbreak points.

The Pacers return to action Saturday when they host Young Harris at 1:30 p.m. Live stats, video and audio will be available at PacerSports.com.