Box Score

PEMBROKE – The UNC Pembroke women's basketball team limited visiting USC Aiken to its lowest shooting percentage (26.9) of the season and just seven points in the first quarter en route to a 70-55 Peach Belt Conference (PBC) victory Wednesday evening at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.
 
The win marks the 11th-consecuitve home win for the Braves (15-8, 10-6 PBC) and equals the most home wins (11) in a season since the Black & Gold made the move to NCAA Division II prior to the 1992-93 campaign. The Pacers (13-12, 9-7 PBC) run their losing streak to three games with the setback and fall a game behind second-place UNCP in the PBC East Division race. With three league contests remaining, the Braves trail first-place Lander by two games.
 
Under two minutes into the third quarter, the hosts found themselves up by 22 points when junior Brianna Baham buried one of her two 3-pointers to give UNCP its largest advantage of the game. USC Aiken whittled the Brave lead down to 12 at the end of the third, thanks in part to a 12-4 run in the final five minutes.
 
An old-fashioned 3-point play pulled the Pacers within eight at 63-55 with 2:21 to play in the fourth, but the Black & Gold scored the final seven points of the game and held the visitors off the scoreboard for the final two minutes.
 
The UNCP defense was lights out in the first half, holding USC Aiken to just 8-of-43 shooting (18.6 percent) in the first two periods. The Pacers missed on their first 10 field goal attempts and also had stretches of 0-for-6 and 0-for-8 in the first 20 minutes of action. The 13-percent clip (3-for-23) from behind the arc is also the lowest of the season for USC Aiken.
 
Baham finished with a game-high 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting to give her double-digit points in 13 of the last 15 outings. Junior Nyla Allen chipped in 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting and both players hauled in six boards. Senior Jonissa Monley grabbed a team-best nine boards to go along with nine points and a four assists to match a career high.
 
The Braves knocked down 10 of their 22 attempts (45.5 percent) from long range, which is the best 3-point percentage since Dec. 17 and the second-highest of the season.
 
UNCP had the hot hand early in the opening quarter, jumping out to a 7-0 lead and hitting on 7-of-14 shots to lead 18-7 after 10 minutes. A Monley freebie put the hosts out front by 17 with 6:04 to play in the second period and the Braves maintained that advantage throughout the half to lead 39-22 at the halftime horn.
 
The Black & Gold will enjoy a full week off before returning to the court Feb. 15 at Armstrong State. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. on the front end of a doubleheader at Alumni Arena in Savannah, Georgia. The Pirates (8-16. 4-11 PBC) are losers of six of their last seven and fell 71-70 to the Braves Jan. 28 in Pembroke.