USCA women hang on to beat Lander
Feb. 4—USC AIKEN 62, LANDER 61
A 14-point halftime lead had all but vanished for the USC Aiken women's basketball team with under a minute to play in Saturday's game against Lander at the Convocation Center.
The Pacers, ahead by just a point, turned the ball over with 20 seconds to play and would need a defensive stop against a Lander team that couldn't miss in the second half.
But they got it. Tanyia Gordon's last-second look didn't fall, and the Pacers escaped with a 62-61 victory to keep them in a tie for second place in the Peach Belt Conference standings with six games remaining.
Emily Trushel scored a game-high 23 points for USCA (13-9, 7-5 PBC), going 7-for-11 from the field and hitting all six of her free throws. Breanna Gustave had 13 points and seven rebounds, and Jentri Worley had 10 points and six boards.
Trushel scored 14 of her points in the first half, nine of them coming during an 11-0 run to end the first half with a 34-20 lead.
Lander (7-14, 4-8) got hot in the second half, though. The Bearcats shot 59.3% in the half, making five of six 3-point attempts as the Pacers' offense cooled.
The lead was down to five heading into the fourth quarter, but 3s by Gustave and Trushel made it a six-point game with 7:24 to go.
The Bearcats made it a one-possession game on three separate occasions in the fourth, but USCA never relinquished its lead. That was in part due to a strong performance from the free throw line — the Pacers were 15-for-16 as a team and went a perfect 8-for-8 in the second half.
With the win, the Pacers are in a tie for second in the PBC along with Columbus State and North Georgia. Georgia Southwestern is in first, two games clear of the rest.
Six games remain for USCA, starting with a road game at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Georgia College.
