AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken women's basketball team opened the season Saturday with a hard fought 70-51 loss at No. 16 North Georgia.

The Pacers are now 0-1 while the Nighthawks are 3-0.

Head coach Mark Miller's team was led by rookie Delaney Trushel's game-high 17 points. Fellow newcomer Emily Trushel tallied 10 points while Grace Crawford chipped in eight markers.

Chidinma Okafor snagged a team-best seven rebounds and blocked a game-high four shots. Madison Williams garnered a game-best four steals.   

Williams found Emily Trushel for a three-point shot to get things going in the contest just 68 seconds in. Tied at 3-3, Emily Trushel laid the ball up-and-in for a two-point edge. With the score tied at 5-5, Okafor registered her first career points for a two-point lead at the 5:17 mark of the first period. UNG would take a 10-7 lead before Delaney Trushel hit two free throws, slicing the deficit to one, 10-9, with 55 ticks remaining in the first stanza.

Trailing 19-9 in the second quarter, Emily Trushel found Delaney Trushel for a three-ball at the 6:33 mark. Down 21-12, Delaney Trushel hit an inside shot before Crawford took a pass from Kirstyn Lunniss for a shot from distance, completing a 5-0 spurt. The Nighthawks would manage to take a 34-24 advantage into intermission.

Kanna Suzuki and Delaney Trushel buried back-to-back three-point shots to start the scoring in the third period, trimming the deficit to four at 34-30. Down 39-33, Suzuki found Allycia Harris for a lay-up at the 4:58 mark. However, the home squad embarked on an 11-0 run before Crawford hit two free throws with 51 seconds to play in the stanza to pull within 13 at 50-37.

Suzuki's free throw 47 seconds into the fourth quarter made it a 12-point game, but that was as close as the Pacers could get the rest of the way.

For the game, USC Aiken connected on 19-of-56 shots from the floor (33.9 percent), including seven-of-18 from downtown (38.9 percent). The squad hit six-of-seven (85.7 percent) from the charity stripe.

Miller's team held a 22-20 edge in the paint and both teams had nine second-chance points.

The Pacers return to action on Jan. 6 when they open league play at Young Harris. The contest is slated to start at 5:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.