AIKEN, S.C. – The USCA women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought overtime contest to Augusta 61-53 Saturday afternoon.

The Pacers are now 7-17 on the season, including 4-12 in PBC play.

Head coach Brittany Batts' squad was paced by Mahkayla Premo's 21-point, five-rebound effort. Morgan McDermott tallied 13 points while Zenia Palaska netted seven points and 11 rebounds. Mackenna Nix chipped in five points and six boards while Ioanna Stefanaki totaled five points. Monique Emelifeonwu accounted for two points, 11 rebounds, three steals and a block. Destiny Harman dished out three assists while Nika Kurdija had two.

Tied at 2-2, McDermott found Premo for a lay-up. The ensuing foul shot gave her an old-fashioned three-point play. A lay-up by Stefanaki gave the home team a 7-2 lead. Up 7-5, Harman found Stefanaki for a three-ball at the 4:10 mark. Premo canned back-to-back three-point buckets, extended the advantage to 16-7 with 2:14 to play. Palaska's two free throws made it 21-10 en route to a nine-point cushion at the end of the first quarter.

Premo continued her solid day with a pair of jumpers early in the second frame for a 25-14 lead. Up 25-16, McDermott drilled a pair of shots from distance off passes from Harman, giving USCA a 31-16 edge with 4:25 to play in the half. AU netted the final 10 points of the half, making it 31-26 at the break.

Emelifeonwu's lay-up started the scoring in the third quarter. Up 34-28, Nix recorded a pair of free throws. Holding a 36-32 lead, McDermott netted an inside shot. Palaska made two charity tosses before Premo canned a three-point bucket off a pass from McDermott, pushing the margin to 11, 43-32, with 3:37 to play in the period. With a 43-36 lead, Batts' team closed the frame on another 4-0 spurt, taking a 47-36 lead into the final period of play.

AU took a 49-47 lead with 4:17 to play, but Premo converted a lay-up, tying the score at the 2:48 mark. The Jaguars regained the lead, 51-49, with just under a minute to go. Palaska stopped a drive with 19 seconds to go and promptly snagged the ball. She flicked it ahead and McDermott streaked down the left side of the court for a lay-up. AU had a chance to win the game, but USCA forced a miss in the lane and Palaska grabbed the rebound, sending the contest into overtime.  

Down 54-51 in the extra period, Premo hit a free throw at the 2:43 mark. The Jaguars extended the edge to four, but Premo answered with another shot from the charity stripe. However, that was as close as the team could get the rest of the way.

For the game, USCA hit 17-of-61 from the floor. The team drained seven-of-23 from the three-point line and 12-of-17 from the charity stripe. Batts' squad grabbed 44 boards, including 18 on the offensive glass. The Pacers had 33 points off the bench and netted 20 points off miscues. USCA also scored 16 points in the lane.

The Pacers return to action Wednesday when they travel to Columbus State for a 5:30 p.m., contest. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.