PEMBROKE – The Peach Belt Conference East Division-leading UNC Pembroke basketball teams will hit the road for the first time in nearly two weeks on Saturday when the Braves head to central South Carolina to battle division rival USC Aiken in a 5:30 p.m. doubleheader inside the Convocation Center.
 
Fans can follow both games for free via a live audio stream on the UNCP Braves YouTube channel with Cameron Songer handling the play-by-play duties. The game can also be followed via live video and statistics link provided by USCA as well.

 

UNC Pembroke Women (12-4, 7-2 PBC) at USC Aiken (10-8, 6-3 PBC)
Date & Tip Time	Wednesday, January 4 at 5:30 p.m. EST
Location	Columbus, Ga. | Frank G. Lumpkin Center
Live Statistics	SIDEARM SPORTS
Audio	Braves Radio On YouTube
Video	Pacer Athletics on YouTube
Peach Belt Conference	Women's Basketball

 
WOMEN'S NOTES

• The Lady Braves (12-4, 7-2 PBC) downed PBC-favorite Lander, 63-60, Wednesday at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court. It was their fifth-consecutive win and seventh in their last eight outings. It is the first time in program history that UNCP has won seven of its first nine league games. The Black & Gold now sits alone atop the PBC East Division despite being picked 12th out of the 14 teams in the preseason coaches poll.  
• A dagger 3-pointer from Ebone Stevens put the Braves up by four over Lander with just 22 seconds left Wednesday. It was her 32nd long ball of the season and brought her season percentage to 45.7 (1^st PBC). Senior Jonissa Monley leads all Braves with 11.4 points and 8.6 rebounds per game and has racked up six double-doubles this season. Classmate Jasmine Huntley cashes in 10.1 points per outing and dishes out a team-high 3.6 assists per contest. Junior Brianna Baham is on a hot streak as of late, racking up double-digit points in three-straight and four of the last five games overall.
• UNCP leads all PBC institutions with a 33.5 3-point field goal percentage and ranks second in 3-point field goals made per game (7.1), free throws made per game (14.9), defensive rebounds per game (31.3) and opponent 3-point field goal percentage (24.0).
• The Braves were provided a tough stretch of league games to begin the season, having faced teams with a combined 91-48 (.655) record through their first nine PBC games. UNCP's remaining 10 games are against opponents with a combined record of just 71-95 (.428).
• USC Aiken (10-8, 6-3 PBC) sits second in the PBC East Division, just one game shy of the Braves. The Pacers were winners of six-straight games before a 61-59 setback to Armstrong State on Wednesday evening. USCA is 6-2 in the confines of the Convocation Center, compared to a 4-6 record away from home, much to the effect of a PBC-leading 944 home attendance average in league games.
• The Pacers boast three players scoring in double figures, led by Jasmine Carter with 14.8 per game. Carter ranks second behind UNCP's Stevens in 3-point field goal percentage (42.1). Kwajelin Farrar leads the league in field goal percentage (61.2) and is in the top 10 with 8.8 rebounds per game, all while averaging 13.2 points per outing. Rachelle Aupont pours in 10.3 points per game in just 19 minutes of action.
• As a team, USC Aiken ranks second in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (33.1) and total rebounds per game (44.8), while committing just 16.7 fouls per game - second fewest in the PBC.
• USC Aiken leads the all-time series, 39-14, over the Braves, including wins in the last three meetings. UNCP is just 4-19 in Aiken dating back to the 1992-93 season and are winless in the Convocation Center since 2007. Last season, the Pacers swept the series, winning 84-41 in Aiken and 57-55 in Pembroke.

 

UNC Pembroke Men (14-4, 7-2 PBC) at USC Aiken (12-4, 6-3 PBC)
Date & Tip Time	Saturday, January 21 at 7:30 p.m. EST
Location	Aiken, S.C. | Convocation Center
Live Statistics	SIDEARM SPORTS
Audio	Braves Radio On YouTube
Video	Pacer Athletics on YouTube
Peach Belt Conference	Men's Basketball

 
MEN'S NOTES

• The Braves (14-4, 7-2 PBC) stretched their win streak out to five games by holding off Lander, 83-69, on Monday evening at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court. The Braves put together a 26-4 run in the first half and eventually toted a 20-point advantage into the locker rooms.
• Nigel Grant has drained better than 60 percent of his shots over the last five games, while also averaging a team-best 14.6 points an outing over that span as well. All-American Quamain Rose has averaged a team-best 3.3 assists per game in 10 PBC outings this season, including a season-best seven assists in Monday's win over Lander.
• UNCP has put up a league-best 86.4 points per game this season, and has outscored opponents by an average of 9.9 points per game (2^nd PBC) as well. The Braves are also tops in the league in rebounding margin (+7.6), assists (16.7/game) and steals (9.8) as well.
• USC Aiken (12-4, 6-3 PBC) extended their winning skein out to six games with Wednesday evening's 96-82 win at Armstrong State. The Pacers shot nearly 54 percent from the field in that contest, and used a late first-half run to pull away for good.
• Jalin Barnes (16.0 points/game) and Christian Nobles (15.8) combine to put up nearly 32 points an outing for the Pacers who average 85.5 points per game (3^rd PBC) this season. USC Aiken has held its opponents to just 41.7 percent field goal shooting (4^th PBC) in 2016-17, and rank second in the league in perimeter defense (31.4 percent).
• USC Aiken is 32-18 all-time against UNC Pembroke, but snapped a three-game series losing skid with an 85-76 victory over the Braves in Pembroke last season. The teams split a dozen matchups from 1993-98, before the Pacers  embarked on a run that saw them capture 20 of the next 24 meetings with the Black & Gold from 1999-2010. UNCP snapped a seven-game series losing skid with a 78-72 win over the Pacers in 2011, and then won six of the next 11 matchups.