AUGUSTA, Ga. – The USCA women's basketball team dropped a 59-46 contest at Augusta Wednesday evening.

The Pacers are now 4-12 on the season, including a 1-7 ledger in PBC play.

Head coach Brittany Batts' squad was paced by Mahkayla Premo's 17-point effort.  She also added three rebounds and two steals. Monique Emelifeonwu and Mackenna Nix added nine points apiece. Emelifeonwu grabbed five boards and swatted three shots while Nix had seven rebounds.

Ioanna Stefanaki chipped in six points, five rebounds and four steals while Zenia Palaska and Morgan McDermott had three points and two points, respectively.

Trailing 8-2, McDermott powered past two defenders for a lay-up. Facing a 10-4 deficit, Emelifeonwu connected on a free throw before Destiny Harman found Palaska for a three-ball, slicing the deficit to two, 10-8. AU held a 15-10 edge before Emelifeonwu buried two charity tosses and Nix converted a lay-up in the waning seconds, making it 15-14 entering the second quarter.

Down 32-16 at halftime, Batts' team played virtually even with the Jaguars in the third stanza. Trailing 39-18, Premo found Stefanaki for a three-ball. Premo netted the next seven points for the visitors, including a shot from distance off a pass from McDermott at the 2:55 mark. Premo connected again from deep, this time with 52 ticks on the clock, pulling the Pacers within 15 at 46-31.

USCA embarked on a 7-0 spurt to open the fourth quarter. Nix got things going with an inside bucket just 13 seconds into the frame. Emelifeonwu followed it up with a lay-up a minute later before Premo found Stefanaki for a wing three-point shot with 7:55 to play, slicing the deficit to 11, 49-38. However, that was as close as the team could get the rest of the way.

For the game, USCA hit 13-of-50 from the floor, including seven-of-25 from downtown. The team was outstanding at the free throw line, hitting 13-of-14. The squad grabbed 30 rebounds, had 26 points off the bench and netted 12 points in the lane.

USCA returns to action Saturday when they host Clayton State at 1:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.