AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken women's basketball team lost a hard-fought 65-63 overtime contest to Augusta Wednesday evening.
The Pacers are now 8-15 overall and 4-11 in league play. The Jaguars are 12-11 on the season and 6-9 against PBC teams.
Head coach
Mark Miller's team was led by
Chidinma Okafor's 24-point, 12-rebound, eight-block performance.
Emily Trushel added 12 points, five boards and four assists while
Allycia Harris snagged 11 rebounds.
Grace Crawford totaled nine markers while Harris and
Delaney Trushel chipped in six points and five points, respectively. Cochrane tallied four points and four rebounds to go along with two blocks.
In the first quarter, USC Aiken led 8-6 before
Emily Trushel and Okafor hit back-to-back shots. Leading 12-9
Mackenzie Cochrane nailed an inside bucket for a 14-9 edge heading into the second quarter.
USC Aiken built a six-point edge a couple of times before extending the margin to eight on Okafor's old-fashioned three-point play to make it 27-19 with 2:40 to go in the half. However, the Jaguars pulled within four at 27-23 at the break.
A three-point shot by Crawford with 5:32 to go in the third pushed the margin to 37-25 in favor of the home squad.
The Jaguars knotted the game at 44-44 with 5:59 to play in the fourth. Tied at 51-51, Harris canned a jumper and
Emily Trushel hit a free throw for a 54-51 edge with 23 seconds to go. AU tied it with a three-point shot with 13 seconds to play, forcing overtime.
Trailing 62-60 with 26 seconds to go, Williams found Crawford for a three-point bucket with just 19 ticks remaining. The Jaguars hit a three-ball of their own with nine seconds to go for the winning margin. USC Aiken had a shot in the waning seconds that did not fall.
For the game, USC Aiken hit 23-of-66 from the floor (34.8 percent). The squad canned seven-of-15 from deep (46.7 percent). Miller's team held a 45-43 edge on the glass.
The Pacers return to action Saturday when they play at Young Harris at 1:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.