Freshmen Lead USC Aiken Past Flagler

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The University of South Carolina Aiken women's basketball team defeated Flagler 65-54 Saturday afternoon in a key league contest.

The Pacers are now 12-9 overall, including an 8-4 record against conference foes. The Saints fall to 2-16 overall and0-11 in league play.

Head coach Mark Miller's team was paced by Kwajelin Farrar's 14-point, four-rebound performance. Emily Waters tallied 10 points and eight boards while fellow first-year standout Mylek Taouil chipped in eight markers.

Rachelle Aupont added eight points and four rebounds while Jasmine Coach and Alexis Ware tallied six points each. Coach was solid on the glass, snagging seven rebounds. Carly Gilreath dished out five assists in the victory. Celine Vega accounted for three assists.

USC Aiken trailed 4-0 before Taouil's lay-up put the visitors on the board 3:19 into the contest. Less than a minute later, Taouil grabbed a miss and put it back, knotting the score at 4-4. Tied at 6-6, the Pacers embarked on a 10-1 spurt to end the quarter for the 16-7 lead.

During the run, Farrar netted seven straight points, including an old-fashioned three-point play. Leading 13-7, Vega found Alexis Ware for a three-pointer with 14 seconds to play in the stanza for the nine-point margin.

Miller's team extended its lead to 10 as Waters connected on a pair of free throws at the 8:45 mark. Flagler managed to trim the margin to three, 24-21, with 4:29 to go. However, Jasmine Coach canned two free throws, pushing the score to 26-21.

The Saints hit a three-pointer to make it a two-point gap before Waters took a pass from Gilreath for a bucket at the 3:25 mark. Leading 30-26, Waters and Gilreath hit back-to-back shots for a 34-26 score at intermission.

During the first half, the freshmen trio of Farrar, Taouil and Waters combined for 27 of USC Aiken's 34 points.

Taouil's three-pointer off a pass from Coach extended the lead to 10 at 40-30, near the midway point of the third quarter. After a pair of Kate Duff free throws, Miller's team pushed its advantage to 14, 45-31, when Duff found Aupont for a shot from downtown. The teams traded the next 12 points as the visitors went into the final frame with a 51-37 score.

A strong start to the fourth quarter gave the Pacers a 61-41 lead when Sade Johnson found Duff for a three-point basket with 7:16 to play. USC Aiken was not seriously threatened the rest of the way. After the Saints pulled within nine at 63-54 with 2:15 to play, Miller's team kept the home squad off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

For the game, USC Aiken hit 24-of-64 from the floor (37.5 percent), including five-of-17 from downtown (29.4 percent). The team buried 12 free throw attempts. Miller's team out-rebounded the home squad 46-35, including a 20-12 margin on the offensive glass. The Pacers held a 25-5 advantage in points off turnovers and a 33-19 edge in bench points.

The Pacers return to action Monday when they travel to Augusta for a 5:30 p.m., start. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.