AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken women's basketball team defeated Francis Marion 64-53 Wednesday evening.

The Pacers are now 12-9 overall and 8-7 in league play. The Patriots fall to 8-10 overall and 5-9 in the PBC.

Head coach Mark Miller's team was led by Kyrie' Chandler's game-high 19 points. Melyk Taouil came off the bench to score 15 in the win. Alex Canady and Kwajelin Farrar added nine points apiece.

Farrar snagged a game-high eight rebounds and added a pair of blocks. 

In a back-and-forth affair, neither team held more than a two-point edge in the opening quarter. A three-ball from Chandler gave the Pacers a 16-14 lead with 40 ticks to go in the stanza, but the teams were tied at 16-16 heading into the second quarter.

Miller's team pushed the margin to five at 25-20 on a steal and lay-up from Canady with 6:56 remaining in the half, but the Patriots embarked on an 8-3 run for a 29-28 advantage. However, Madison Williams found Melyk Taouil with three seconds to go for a shot in the lane, giving USC Aiken a 30-29 edge at the break.

USC Aiken broke it open in the third quarter. Tied at 37-37, Taouil hit a jumper and a three-ball for a 42-37 edge. Up by three at 42-39, Madison Williams connected on a lay-up. Taouil followed it with a jumper before Chandler nailed a shot with 1:22 to go in the frame for a 48-39 advantage.

The Pacers extended the lead to 11 on a shot by Taouil with 5:31 to play. The margin never got below eight the rest of the way.

For the game, USC Aiken hit 22-of-51 (43.1 percent) from the floor, including six-of-10 (60.0 percent) from downtown. The squad out-rebounded the visitors 38-27. Miller's team dished out 15 assists in the game.

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