AIKEN, S.C. – Despite the game-high effort of junior forward Jazmine Kemp, the UNC Pembroke women's basketball team lost its final game of the season to Peach Belt Conference rival, USC Aiken, 72-58, on Saturday evening inside of the Convocation Center.

Kemp shot 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from the floor, including a perfect 6-of-6 clip from the charity strip to pour out a game-high 22 points for the Lady Braves (9-17, 5-14 PBC). Kierra Haney added another 10 points and pulled down seven boards. UNCP played tough in the post, scoring 20 points in the paint, compared to just 12 post-points from the Pacers (11-17, 9-10).

USC Aiken was led by the double-digit scoring performances of five different players, including 19 points from Courtney Mealing. Mariah Durian chipped in 13 points, while Mackenzie Reese and Amaura Brandt logged 12 points apiece. Rounding out the leading scorers, Kate Duff came off the bench to score 10 points for the Pacers. USC Aiken used a solid perimeter performance to capture the victory, connecting on 13-of-30 (43.3 percent) shots behind the arc. 

Brandt got the Pacers on the board with a triple 30 seconds into the game, but a quick 7-0 run put the Black and Gold up 9-5. The first quarter remained tight, until a trey from Durian sparked an 11-point run that put USC Aiken up, 29-22 with two minutes before the intermission. Kemp made good on the three-point play, bringing the score to 29-25 at halftime. 

The first 10 minutes of the second half saw four ties and two lead changes, but the Pacers went on a 17-3 run over the course of five minutes to pull ahead, 57-46, at the 5:41 mark. USC Aiken stayed in control throughout the final five minutes, as Duff drained back-to-back free throw shots to close out the game. 

"I thought we did some good things, and overall we didn't play poorly. The difference in the game was in second chance points and our inability to make open shots. That was the big difference down the stretch. We had a lot of opportunities but couldn't make shots," said UNCP head coach John Haskins. "I thought we played hard, but we just didn't make shots."