HICKORY, N.C. – The USCA women's basketball team lost a 79-59 contest at Lenoir-Rhyne Saturday afternoon in the season opener for both teams.

The Pacers are now 0-1 on the year.

Head coach Brittany Batts' team was led by Nika Kurdija's 12-point effort. Mackenna Nix poured in 11 points and grabbed five rebounds. Ioanna Steanaki added nine points and three blocks while Mahkayla Premo chipped in eight points, four boards and three steals.

Morgan McDermott and Riley Miller had six points apiece. Miller also grabbed six rebounds.

Defensively, Monique Emelifeonwu swatted five shots.

Stefanki drilled a three-point shot off a pass from Kurdija at the 8:06 mark, pulling the Pacers within one at 4-3. Emelifeonwu's free throw with 6:42 to play in the opening stanza knotted the score at 4-4. The Bears went on a 21-0 run before Nix's lay-up made it 25-6. Emelifeonwu found McDermott for a three-point basket as time expired in the frame to make it 27-9.

Near the midway point of the second quarter, Kurdija converted an old-fashioned three-point play. Moments later, Miller connected a pass to McDermott for a three-point shot. Miller's twisting lay-up in the waning seconds of the half put the score at 47-20 entering halftime.

Batts' squad outscored the Bears 19-17 in the third frame. Nix scored six points in the first 2:35 of the frame. Stefanaki found Kurdija for a lay-up at the 6:16 mark. A pair of free throws by Kurdija and a three-ball from Premo made it 56-34 at the 5:07 mark. Miller scored three of the final five points of the stanza from the charity stripe.

Emelifeonwu hit a jumper from Miller to start the fourth and Stefanaki buried two free throws. Kurdija's pass from Stefanaki for a three-point basket with 6:28 to play. Baskets from Zenia Palaska and Kurdija sliced the deficit to 16 with 3:12 remaining, but that was as close as the team could get the rest of the way.

For the game, USCA hit 19-of-55 from the floor, including six-of-16 from downtown. The team canned 15 free throws. Batts' squad grabbed 10 offensive boards. The Pacers dished out 12 assists and produced 19 points off the bench. USCA accounted for 12 steals and scored 24 points in the paint.

The Pacers return to action tomorrow when they square off against Carson-Newman in the second day of the PBC/SAC Challenge starting at 2 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.