SALISBURY, N.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken women's basketball team lost an 83-60 contest at No. 6 Catawba Saturday afternoon.

The Pacers are now 3-5 on the season while the Indians stand at 7-1.

Head coach Mark Miller's team was led by Marta Rivera's career-high 20-point effort on eight-of-12 shooting from the floor. She also snagged six rebounds. Annalise Malone tallied eight points and nine boards while Jentri Worley and Hailey Unger had six points apiece. 

Trailing 12-4 in the early going, Annalise Malone found Worley for a three-ball at the 6:34 mark. Marta Rivera's lay-up pulled the team within three. Down 18-11, Paris Webster drilled a shot from distance off a pass from Worley. Sami Bardonaro found Malone for an inside bucket, pulling the visitors within two, 18-16, with 57 seconds remaining in the first quarter. 

Webster found Alivia Hikel for a lay-up with 9:00 to play before halftime, knotting the score at 20-20. The teams traded the next eight points. Catawba led 32-27 before Hikel hit Jaya Nelson for a deep three-point bucket with 2:48 to go before halftime. The Indians would outscore the visitors 6-1 heading into intermission with a 39-31 lead.

Catawba managed to push the score to 63-42 late in the third frame but Miller's team sliced the deficit to 16. Unger nailed a three-point bucket. Down by 19, Rhiannon Saller converted an inside shot off a pass from Malone. Moments later, Saller hit a free throw to make it a 64-48 game heading into the fourth quarter. 

USC Aiken continued to trim the deficit as Rivera made a lay-up to start the final stanza. With 7:52 to play, Rivera hit another shot – this time from the free throw line – to pull within 14 at 67-53 – finishing off the old-fashioned three-point play. However, that was as close as the team could get the rest of the way. 

For the game, Miller's team hit 24-of-61 from the floor (39.3 percent). The squad grabbed 17 offensive rebounds and converted them into 10 second-chance points. 

The Pacers return to action Tuesday, Dec. 19 at Coker. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.