AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken women's basketball team picked up a hard-fought 54-50 victory over North Georgia Saturday afternoon.

The Pacers are now 18-10 overall, including 12-6 in league play. The Nighthawks conclude the regular season at 18-9 on the year, including 10-8 against conference foes.

Head coach Mark Miller's team was led by Emily Trushel's team-high 13 points. Jentri Worley added 10 points, six rebounds and six assists in 38 minutes of work. Hailey Unger tallied nine points, five rebounds and three steals.

Breanna Gustave and Annalise Malone each chipped in seven points while Keslie Woodard totaled six points and a game-high 12 boards. She also swatted three shots.

In the first quarter USC Aiken trailed 8-5, but Kelsie Woodard hit a foul shot to make it a two-point game. With 2:53 to play in the frame, Hailey Unger found Worley for a three-point bucket. Twenty-six seconds later, Breanna Gustave gave the Pacers an 11-8 advantage, but the Nighthawks scored five straight to end the frame.

USC Aiken trailed 19-13 before Marta Rivera hit two free throws. Then, a three-point shot from Worley trimmed the deficit to 19-18 with 3:01 to play in the quarter. However, the visitors scored the final five points for a 24-18 lead at the break.

Trailing 28-23, Delaney Trushel hit Emily Trushel for a three-point bucket. Worley's two free throws knotted the contest at 28-28. UNG held a 30-28 lead before Worley found Woodard for a jumper. Woodard's lay-up and Gustave's inside jumper gave the home team a 34-30 edge with 2:42 to play in the third quarter. The Pacers led 37-33 after Woodard's free throw with 32 seconds to go, but UNG netted the final four points of the stanza, tying it at 37-37.

The back-and-forth affair saw the Nighthawks take a 41-39 lead, but Unger nailed a three-point shot at the 7:43 mark. Down 44-43, Unger nailed a jumper in the lane with 5:35 to play. Emily Trushel hit two free throws before the visitors countered with a basket. Emily Trushel's three-point basket off a pass from Unger pushed the score to 50-46 in favor of the home squad.

UNG scored four straight points, but with less than four seconds on the clock the visitors were forced to foul. Malone hit two free throws, securing the four-point victory. 

For the game, USC Aiken hit 16-of-52 from the floor (30.8 percent), including six-of-16 from downtown (37.5 percent). The squad scored 16 points in the paint and converted the Nighthawks' miscues into 13 points. Miller's team recorded nine second-chance points and had 24 points off the bench.

The Pacers enter the PBC Tournament as the No. 3 seed on Wednesday, March 1 against No. 6 Young Harris. Tip-off is slated for 2:30 p.m. The tournament is hosted by Georgia Southwestern March 1-4.