AMERICUS, Ga. – The USCA women's basketball team rattled off a 57-55 victory at Georgia Southwestern Wednesday evening.

The Pacers are now 9-18 on the season, including 6-13 in PBC play.

Head coach Brittany Batts' squad was guided by Zenia Palaska's career-high 21-points. She also accounted for seven rebounds. Mackenna Nix added 17 points and five rebounds while Monique Emelifeonwu tallied seven points, eight boards and three blocks. Morgan McDermott tallied six points while Mahkayla Premo chipped in four points and five boards. Riley Miller notched two points while Destiny Harman snagged five rebounds.

Emelifeonwu got things going just seconds into the contest with a three-point bucket. Her jumper a minute later gave the Pacers a 5-2 edge. The Hurricanes embarked on a 16-2 spurt for a 17-7 lead before Palaska took a pass from Premo and buried a jumper. Nix's free throw with 20 ticks on the clock made it 18-10 at the end of the first quarter.

Nix's lay-up brought the visitors within six at the 9:40 mark. Down 25-13, Kurdija connected with Emelifeonwu for a lay-up. Nix's two charity tosses pulled the Pacers within eight, 25-17. With 2:31 to play, Emelifeonwu found Nix for an inside bucket, slicing the deficit to six. With just over a minute to play in the half, Nix drained a shot from distance, cutting the margin to seven, 31-24.

Down 35-24, Nix connected on a free throw. Palaska hit McDermott for a three-point basket with 5:12 to play, slicing the margin to seven, 35-28. Harman hit McDermott for another shot from downtown, making it 40-35 with 1:32 to play in the third. Georgia Southwestern made two free throws for a 42-35 lead. Palaska nailed four free throws in the final 44 seconds, cutting the deficit to three, 42-39.

Facing a 48-44 deficit, Palaska netted five straight points, giving USCA a 49-48 lead at the 3:46 mark. McDermott found Palaska for an inside basket with 2:48 remaining, tying the contest at 51-51. Down by two, Palaska netted the next four points, including one with 49 ticks on the clock off a pass from Premo.

With 13 seconds left, Premo was fouled and she calmly buried both free throws, extending the advantage to four, 57-53.

For the game, USCA hit 17-of-39 shots from the floor, including four-of-14 from downtown. The team drained 19-of-25 from the charity stripe. Batts' squad held a 38-28 edge on the offensive glass. The Pacers dished out 11 assists, scored eight points off turnovers and netted 24 points in the paint. USCA also accounted for seven second-chance points.

The Pacers return to action Saturday when they travel to Clayton State for the regular-season finale at 3 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.