USC AIKEN STUNS WINSTON-SALEM STATE

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.—Nola Grant turned in her best game in two years with 11 points, nine rebounds, and three blocks in leading USC Aiken (8-3) to a wire-to-wire win over Winston-Salem State (4-13) 61-56 on Sunday afternoon at the C.E. Gaines Center. The win marked the program’s first victory over an NCAA Division I opponent since a 64-56 defeat of Coastal Carolina in 1991. The Lady Pacers had dropped their last 11 against Division I foes.

With their fourth-straight win, the best such streak in two years, USCA also extended its road winning streak to four games, the best since 2001-02 season.

Playing their second road game in less than 48 hours, the Lady Pacers showed no signs of fatigue, drilling their first six shots to open the game on a 13-6 run. Meredith Legg knocked down a three-pointer with 15:12 on the clock to cap the opening spurt.

Legg, who has made at least one trey in 13-straight games, finished with 11 points on 4-of-8 from the field.

Shalonda Carter’s offensive stick-back with 11:00 remaining in the opening stanza drew the Lady Rams within five at 20-15, but the Lady Pacers countered with a 10-0 run capped by Avonte Williams’ triple to extend the cushion to 30-15 with 8:34 left in the half.

Carter just missed notching her seventh double double of the season with 15 points and nine rebounds on 4-of-13 shooting. Williams added eight points and four assists to USC Aiken’s cause.

With 2:10 until the break, Jordon Thomas converted a lay-up attempt to give USC Aiken its largest lead of the game 38-22. Lavontay Johnson drained a trey and then one of two charity tosses to set the half-time margin at 38-26.

The Lady Pacers maintained their comfortable lead into the latter portion of the final stanza. Kadina Baldwin converted an old-fashioned three-point-play with 6:10 left to draw Winston-Salem State within six at 48-42, but that would be as close as the Lady Rams could get. Baldwin poured in 18 of her game-high 23 in the second half.

A couple of fastbreak lay-ups pushed the spread back into double figures for USCA at 52-42 with less than five minutes to play. The Lady Pacers connected on 7-of-8 free throws attempts inside the final 2:50 to ice the win. Baldwin hit a cosmetic three-pointer at the buzzer.

Senior point guard Mindy Allee tied Grant and Legg for team-high honors with 11 points to go with four assists and three steals in 32 minutes of action. Freshman Alicia Soules gave USCA a nice lift inside in the first half with six points and five rebounds. As a team, USC Aiken owned the paint 26-16 and also won the battle of the benches 16-5.

For the game, USC Aiken shot 48.9 percent from the field but struggled from beyond the arc for the second-straight game going 3-of-13 for 23.1 percent. WSSU managed only 19-of-56 from the field for 33.9 percent and were 12-of-21 at the stripe for 57.1 percent.

USC Aiken will return home for the first time since November 30 when they host rival USC Upstate on Wednesday, January 3 at 5:30 PM at “The Courthouse” in both team’s Peach Belt Conference opener.

Source: USC Aiken Sports Information