PEMBROKE – The UNCP women's basketball team earned its first victory in Peach Belt Conference action on Saturday night after defeating Augusta State, 47-40, at the English E. Jones Center. 

The Lady Braves (7-6, 1-3 PBC) have won two straight against the Lady Jaguars (8-2, 2-2) and improve to 14-27 in the all-time series with Augusta State. The Lady Jaguars have now lost two in a row this season, both in conference matches. 

Each squad pulled down 39 boards apiece, with UNCP winning the advantage on defensive rebounds with 32 compared to 24 from Augusta State. The Lady Braves were five-of-10 from 3 point territory and shot 76.9 percent from the courtesy stripe. 

Jazmine Kemp totaled a team-best 13 points while Amelia Partin contributed 10 points. Kierra Haney led the defense with 12 rebounds and Kemp added eight boards. Kamille Horne came off of the bench and went three-of-three from the perimeter for UNCP.

The Lady Jaguars were led by Taylor Ayers, who totaled 11 points and was the only member of Augusta State to reach double digits. Tanchelle Hollingsworth recorded nine points and two steals, while Becky Newhouse grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and dished out three assists.

"We actually played well offensively in the first half, we shot about 41 percent. We only had four turnovers we got the ball inside and made some shots from the perimeter. I can't explain that second half, I don't know what happened. We lost composure and didn't execute, but a lot of credit goes to them and their defense. They mixed their defense up between man and zone, they got aggressive and got in the passing lane a little bit. We didn't respond well to it," said UNCP head coach John Haskins. "There were a couple of things in the game. They shot the ball very poorly, particularly from the three. I thought we did a good job on the glass, particularly late in the game. The third thing is Amelia stepped up and made free throws for us. So I think those three things allowed us a win."

UNCP came into the second half with a 10 point lead and never fell behind the Lady Jaguars during the final 20 minutes. Augusta State cut the deficit to just one point at 36-35 after going on a nine point run, holding the Lady Braves scoreless over five minutes. The Lady Braves would put the game away on an 11-5 run in the final four minutes of play.

Augusta State pulled ahead early with a 12-8 lead over the Lady Braves in the first half. The UNCP defense held the Jaguars to just a 21.2 shooting percentage from the field, allowing only two triples. The Lady Braves hit four 3 point buckets in the first half, with three coming from Horne and one coming from Partin. UNCP used a 14-8 spurt before the half to take a 30-20 lead into halftime.

The Lady Braves will be back in action on Saturday as they play host to PBC opponent Columbus State (5-6, 1-3) in the English E. Jones Center, with tip set for 1:30 p.m.

To watch the full game click HERE.