MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – The University of South Carolina Aiken women's basketball team lost a hard-fought 61-55 contest at Georgia College Saturday afternoon in the PBC opener for both squads.

The Pacers are now 0-2 on the season and 0-1 in league play. The Bobcats are 1-0 overall and 1-0 in PBC competition.

Head coach Mark Miller's team was led by Madison Williams' team-best 11 points. Delaney Trushel accounted for nine points while Emily Trushel and Chidinma Okafor netted eight points apiece, respectively.  

Okafor snagged a team-best seven rebounds and blocked a pair of shots. Emily Trushel distributed a squad-high four assists in the contest.

Leading 12-11 in the first stanza, Delaney Trushel buried a jumper for a three-point edge with 3:35 to go. A lay-up by Chesney Gardner at the 1:41 mark extended the lead to five, 16-11. With just 17 seconds to go in the quarter, Rikoya Anderson snagged an offensive board and put it up and in for a four-point margin to end the frame.

Okafar hit a jumper off a pass from Emily Trushel for a 20-16 advantage at the 8:42 mark of the second stanza. A free throw from Anderson made it 21-20 with 2:47 to go, but the Bobcats would net the final three points of the half for a 23-21 lead at the break.

Down 26-21 early in the third, Williams canned a three-point ball to pull the visitors within two. USC Aiken fell behind by 10 before ending the third quarter trailing by five, 43-38.

With the score at 48-43, Kanna Suzuki found Williams for another shot from distance. On the ensuing possession, Suzuki found Okafor for a lay-up, knotting the score at 48-48. The teams traded buckets with Emily Trushel finding Suzuki, making it 50-50 with 6:21 to play.

For the game, the Pacers hit 21-of-62 from the floor (33.9 percent), including eight-of-26 from the three-point line (30.8 percent). USC Aiken dished out 10 assists.

The Pacers return to action Wednesday, Jan. 13, when they host UNC Pembroke at 5:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.