COLUMBUS, Ga. – The USCA women's basketball team lost a hard fought 81-70 game at Columbus State Saturday afternoon.

The Pacers are now 3-13 on the season, including 0-6 in PBC play.

Head coach Mark Miller's team was led by Serena Baker's team-high 18 points and 11 rebounds for her first career double-double. Riley Simmons netted 13 points while Sami Bardonaro hit double digits with 11 points. She also added six boards. Paris Webster totaled nine points and five assists while Rhiannon Saller notched eight points and eight boards.

Gracie Huffard and Jaya Nelson netted four points apiece. Huffard snagged six rebounds. Kendall Parker added two points while Destiny Harman had a point and three boards.

USCA jumped out to a 7-0 lead behind five points from Bardonaro. After CSU rattled off 10 straight points, Saller hit a free throw at the 2:02 mark to make it 10-8. Down by four, Webster drained two free throws before finding Baker for a lay-up. A late basket by the Cougars made it 14-12, but Bardonaro found Baker for a three-point bucket just before the buzzer for a 15-14 edge going into the second quarter.

Bardonaro got things going with a jumper at the 9:11 mark. She found Simmons for a three-ball, giving USCA a 20-17 lead. Trailing 29-24, Baker converted an old-fashioned three-point play. With 1:14 to go, Baker canned a charity toss to pull within one. CSU maintained a 32-28 lead at halftime.

Down 40-32, Webster hit a jumper. Eleven seconds later, Saller canned two free throws to make it 40-36. An 11-3 spurt by the home team pushed the score to 51-39 with 3:16 left in the third frame. With the score at 57-43, Webster connected with Simmons for a shot from distance with 52 ticks on the clock, but the Cougars drained a late field goal for a 59-46 advantage heading into the fourth stanza.

With under five minutes to play, Miller's team trailed 71-56. Bardonaro hit a free throw before Baker made a lay-up. The Cougars pushed the margin to 16, 77-61, before Simmons connected on a turnaround jumper, sparking a run. Parker found Nelson for a lay-up at the 2:19 mark.

Nelson got the ball to Baker for an inside shot with 1:23 to play, slicing the deficit to 10. With 33 seconds to go, Webster drilled two charity tosses. However, the Cougars hit four free throws down the stretch for the final score.

For the game, USCA hit 22-of-54 from the floor, including six-of-15 from downtown. The team drilled 20-of-28 from the charity stripe and held a 45-34 edge on the glass. Miller's squad dished out 12 assists and scored 11 points off 15 turnovers. USCA had 25 second chance points.

The Pacers return to action Wednesday, Jan. 22, when they host USC Beaufort at 5:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.