ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The visiting UNC Pembroke women's basketball team shot 46.7 percent in the first half and limited Flagler to just 20 points at the half to roll past the Saints, 69-49, in Peach Belt Conference action on Wednesday evening inside the Flagler Gymnasium.

The victory handed the Black and Gold (9-15, 7-10 PBC) its third win in the month of February and second-consecutive to split the series with the Saints (7-17, 4-13) as Flagler dropped their fourth-straight match. UNCP continued in a tie for fourth in the PBC East Division with GRU Augusta.

Senior Avae' Hardy drained a team-high 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting from the field including a pair of three-pointers, while sophomore Katelyn Mitchell came off the bench to snag 10 rebounds including nine on the defensive boards and was just one point shy of a double-double with nine points. Fellow sophomore Airico Williams also finished the game with nine points, while senior Kierra Haney added eight and a trio of blocks.

Chandrica Fuller pulled down seven rebounds with five coming from the defensive side of the ball, while Jonissa Monley grabbed five offensive boards to finish the contest with six total rebounds. Senior Jazmine Kemp notched three steals and seven points in her 20 minutes of action.

The Braves registered 28 points in the paint and 22 off of Flagler's 17 turnovers, while also claiming 15 points on second chance shots from their 15 offensive rebounds and 31 points from six bench players.

UNCP finished the contest shooting 41.4 percent from the field, matched its season high in scoring and held the Saints to a mere 26.5 field goal percentage. The Braves boast the nation's 10th-best (2nd PBC) field goal percentage defense (35.0), and rank 12th nationally in scoring defense (56.6 points/game). The Braves have held 10 opponents to 56 points or less this season, and have also held opponents to 35 percent shooting or worse in 15 outings.

Despite Flagler putting the first points up on the board, but UNCP picked up the pace and bolted out on a 10-0 run to hold the Saints scoreless for more than four minutes. Flagler tried to close out the deficit, but UNCP pushed its lead to 19-points with 2:42 left to play on a jumper by Eboné Stevens. Flagler drained two quick shots to trail by 15 headed into half.

The Braves busted out a 12-4 in five minutes to begin the final stanza and take the 23-point lead on the three-point play by Hardy. Flagler cut the lead to 18 on Teosha Ray's trey, but UNCP led by 25 points with 6:42 remaining in the game by using a 12-5 run that was too much to overcome for the Saints as the Braves used the win to split the series.

Flagler was led by Alex Alford with nine points, while Treva Mason grabbed seven rebounds. Asha Campbell picked up six steals and added seven points along with Mason's seven points. Ray concluded the contest with eight points as well.

UNCP will close out the road portion of its regular season schedule on Saturday with a 1:30 p.m. contest against Armstrong State (12-12, 10-7) in Savannah, Ga.