AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 75-72 game to No. 10 Georgia Southwestern Saturday afternoon in a PBC contest.

The Pacers are now 10-6 overall, including 4-2 in league play. The Lady Canes stand at 14-1 overall and 6-0 against PBC teams.

Head coach Mark Miller's team was led by Emily Trushel's 23-point, six-rebound effort. Annalise Malone tallied 15 points and four boards while Hailey Unger and Kelsie Woodard added 12 points and 10 points, respectively.

Jentri Worley contributed seven points, six assists and a team-high three steals in the game.

USC Aiken jumped out to a 10-4 lead. Up 6-4, Malone nailed a pair of baskets for the six-point edge with 4:49 to play in the first frame. Leading by four, Emily Trushel took a pass from Worley and drilled a deep three-ball for a 13-8 advantage. The Lady Canes managed to hold a 15-13 edge at the end of the frame.

The visitors maintained a four-point edge at 19-15 but Unger netted five straight points for a 20-19 margin. The back-and-forth contest saw neither team being able to gain much of an advantage. Down 32-28 with 1:2 to play, Kelsie Woodard hit a pair of free throws. Emily Trushel's free throw with 43 seconds remaining pulled the Pacers within one, 32-31. GSW managed to take a 34-31 lead into the third quarter.

Worley canned a three-point bucket early in the third stanza, knotting the game at 36-36. Down by four, 42-38, Miller's team pulled even with the visitors when Worley found Woodard for a layup at the 4:58 mark. A pair of free throws by Emily Trushel and one by Malone extended the advantage to 48-45. However, GSW reeled off the next four points before Malone's bucket in the waning seconds made it 51-50.

The back-and-forth affair continued in the final frame. Unger's three-point basket tied the game at 60-60, marking the 10^th tie of the contest. The Lady Canes took a 73-67 lead but Emily Trushel made it a four-point game. The visitors hit a pair of late free throws before Emily Trushel's three-point shot at the buzzer made it a 75-72 final score.

For the game, USC Aiken hit 26-of-56 from the floor (46.4 percent), including seven-of-20 from downtown (35.0 percent). The squad held a 19-14 edge in points off turnovers.

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