Women's Basketball | March 09, 2023

AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South Carolina Aiken women's basketball team is primed for the upcoming NCAA Southeast Regional, which will be held at Catawba March 10-13. 
 
Head coach Mark Miller's team finished second in the PBC regular season (No. 3 seed in the PBC Tournament) and will be the No. 6 seed in the NCAA Southeast Region. 
 
The Pacers (18-11) will face the PBC Tournament host No. 3 Georgia Southwestern (24-6) in the first round on March 10 at 12 p.m. USC Aiken is 16-7 in the all-time series against the Hurricanes. This marks the third time USC Aiken and Georgia Southwestern will meet this season. The Pacers have lost both contests against the Hurricanes this year, including a three-point loss in January. This will mark the first time in the series history the teams will play each other at a neutral site. 

In the other pairing on USC Aiken's side of the bracket, No. 2 Wingate will take on North Georgia at 2:30 p.m. On the other side of the NCAA Southeast Region bracket, No. 1 Catawba squares off against No. 8 UNC Pembroke at 5 p.m. The other quarterfinal game has No. 4 Lenoir-Rhyne and No. 5 Clayton State playing at 7:30 p.m.
 
The Pacers are 4-3 all-time against the Wingate Bulldogs. Their last match-up came in 2016 in which USC Aiken lost at Wingate 67-54. The Pacers are 12-16 against the University of North Georgia Nighthawks but won both meetings in this year's regular season. UNG holds a 1-0 advantage at a neutral location. 
 
USC Aiken is 8-4 lifetime against the No. 1 seed including 1-0 at a neutral site. The Pacers have won the last six games against the Catawba Indians. Against UNC Pembroke, USC Aiken is 42-20 against the former conference foe and 2-0 on neutral courts. The Pacers suffered a loss in the only match-up this season against to the No. 4 Lenoir-Rhyne Bears, but do hold a 9-4 advantage all-time including 4-1 at neutral sites. USC Aiken split the two regular-season games against No. 5 Clayton State Lakers including an overtime loss. Historically, the Pacers are 16-29 against the Lakers and 1-2 on neutral courts. 
 
USC Aiken is guided by all-region honoree Emily Trushel. She led the team in scoring (16.1 ppg), rebounds (5.7 rpg), steals (37), field goal percentage (52.7 percent), three-point field goal percentage (46.9 percent) and free throw percentage (93.3 percent). 
 
Jentri Worley earned third-team all-PBC honors. She averages 11.9 ppg, with 5.0 rpg and 32 total steals. She averaged 40.8 percent from the floor, 29.9 percent from behind the arc and 82.9 percent at the free-throw line. 
 
For all information regarding tickets, live video or live stats for the entire NCAA Southeast Regional, click the Tournament Page link in the article.

It marks the first NCAA Tournament appearance for the program since the 2013 campaign. USC Aiken made the NCAA Tournament in 2002, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013.

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