AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken women's basketball team hit 47.1 percent of its shots from the floor and never trailed in the 76-63 win over Claflin Monday evening.

The Pacers are now 3-3 on the year while the Panthers fall to 3-1.

Head coach Mark Miller's team was led by Breanna Gustave and Emily Trushel as the dyad shared game-high honors with 16 points apiece. Gustave added eight rebounds while Emily Trushel snagged six. 

Annalise Malone registered 11 points while Hailey Unger chipped in 10 points and four assists. 

USC Aiken jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a bucket from Emily Trushel off a pass from Jentri Worley. With the score at 11-9, Miller's team hit another shot from downtown when Unger found Emily Trushel again. Marta Rivera's basket pushed it to 16-9 before Malone got into the action with a jumper. Malone's two free throws made it 20-9 with 14 seconds to go in the quarter.

Up 23-14, the Pacers embarked on an 11-0 spurt. Emily Trushel started it with a jumper. Unger canned a shot from downtown before Gustave made two charity tosses. Unger and Emily Trushel each hit buckets for a 20-point margin, 34-14, as the home team cruised to a 40-23 edge going into the second half. 

USC Aiken built a 27-point lead when Delaney Trushel found Malone for a lay-up at the 7:03 mark, making the score 51-24. A three-point shot at the buzzer for the visitors pulled the squad within 21 at the end of the third quarter, 60-39.

Unger connected with Gustave for a three-point bucket with 8:14 to play for a 66-43 advantage. A free throw from Malone and two charity tosses from Emily Trushel extended the margin to 26, 69-43. Moments later, Unger found Gustave on the break for a pull-up three-point shot, pushing the score to 72-46 with 5:09 to go. 

Claflin would cut the deficit to 13 with under a minute to play for the final tally.

For the game, Miller's team shot 24-of-51 from the floor (47.1 percent), including a sizzling nine-for-15 from downtown (60.0 percent). The team was also sensational at the charity stripe, hitting 19-of-22 (86.4 percent). The squad tallied 19 second-chance points and notched 15 points on the break. 

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