AMERICUS, Ga. – The University of South Carolina Aiken women's basketball team lost a 77-71 contest at Georgia Southwestern in the PBC opener for both schools.

The Pacers are now 3-4 on the season and 0-1 in league play.

Head coach Mark Miller's team was led by Emily Waters, who poured in a career-high 20 points on seven-of-13 shooting in 21 minutes of work. She added seven rebounds for good measure.

Marissa Bruce accounted for 13 points while Kyrie' Chandler chipped in 12. Melyk Taouil narrowly missed out on double digits with nine markers.

Star Toomey snagged a team-best nine rebounds.

In the first period, USC Aiken found itself trailing 12-5 before Star Toomey made a lay-up with 3:26 to play. Less than half a minute later, Celine Vega canned a three-point shot off a pass from Taouil, pulling the team within two at 12-10. An old-fashioned three-point play by Taouil gave the Pacers a 13-12 edge. A jumper by Waters allowed Miller's team to take a 15-14 lead into the second stanza.

USC Aiken embarked on a 7-0 run, taking a 32-26 lead late in the second frame. During the spurt, Lonesha Lee made a pair of free throws as did Taouil. Chandler netted a three-ball off a pass from Star. However, the Lady Canes battled back to take a 37-36 lead at halftime.

GSW pushed its advantage to seven in the third period, but Miller's team battled back in the fourth.

Down 61-54 with 8:47 to play, Waters made a lay-up. On the ensuing possession, Waters hit one of two charity tosses, making it a 61-57 contest. A steal by Lee turned into a lay-up from Bruce. She was fouled on the play and calmly converted the free throw, pulling the Pacers within one at 61-60. However, that was as close as the team would be the rest of the way.

Waters made it a one-point game at 69-68 with 2:53 to play, but the home team hit back-to-back three-point shots for a seven-point edge. Chandler's lay-up with 57 seconds to go made it 75-71, but USC Aiken could not get any closer.  

For the game, USC Aiken hit 24-of-58 from the floor (41.4 percent), including four-of-10 from downtown (40 percent). The squad hit 19-of-31 from the foul line.

The Pacers have a two-week break before returning to action on Saturday, Dec. 16 at home against Clayton State. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.