COLUMBUS, Ga. – The University of South Carolina Aiken women's basketball team put together a sensational fourth quarter that saw a valiant comeback attempt fall just short in the 76-65 loss at Columbus State.

The Pacers are now 4-20 on the season, including 0-14 in league play.

Head coach Mark Miller's team was led by Marta Rivera's team-high 14 points. Jentri Worley added 11 points and a game-high seven rebounds while Destiny Harman totaled nine points – all in the fourth quarter. Sami Bardonaro also accounted for nine points in the game. Paris Webster chipped in seven points and four assists. Jaya Nelson and Rhiannon Saller had six points apiece. Saller shared game-best honors with seven rebounds. 

Trailing by 18 late in the first quarter, Saller took a pass from Webster and promptly made an inside shot. She added the free throw after being fouled for the old-fashioned three-point play to make it 29-14 but CSU held a 33-14 edge going into the second quarter. 

Miller's team outscored the Cougars 18-16 over the next 10 minutes of action. Rivera got things going, hitting a jumper and a lay-up to make it 35-18. Down 38-18, Rivera canned another jumper before Worley netted her first two points of the contest. With the score at 43-23, Worley was fouled and she calmly made both charity tosses. A pair of three-point buckets from Worley within a 34-second span off passes from Webster made it 43-31 with 2:01 to go in the half. CSU managed to lead 49-32 at the break.

The Cougars held a 72-47 lead going into the fourth quarter but USC Aiken continued to push hard over the final 10 minutes of action. Harman opened the score 1:38 into the frame with her first three points of the day off a pass from Rivera. Webster and Rivera connected on jumpers to make it 72-54.

After a lay-up by CSU, the Pacers embarked on an impressive 11-0 run. Annalise Malone found Rivera for an inside shot. With 3:33 to play, Worley hit Harman for another shot from downtown to pull within 15. At the 2:49 mark, Saller connected with Harman for her third three-point bucket of the quarter. Just 21 seconds later, Harman hit Bardonaro with a pass. Bardonaro calmly drilled the three-point shot to slice the deficit to nine, 74-65, forcing a time-out by the home squad. 

USC Aiken missed three shots from deep over the final 1:40 and could not get any closer.

For the game, the Pacers hit 20-of-48 from the field (41.7 percent), including seven-of-20 (35.0 percent) from the three-point line. USC Aiken held a 40-26 lead on the boards, including a 9-6 advantage on the offensive glass. The team dished out 10 assists in the contest. 

The Pacers return to action Wednesday, Feb. 21 when they host USC Beaufort at 5:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.