LANDER'S "SECOND CHANCE" COOLS OFF LADY PACERS 80-72
JUNIOR GUARD MEREDITH LEGG SCORES 1,000th-POINT IN LOSING EFFORT

GREENWOOD, S.C.--On milestone night for junior guard Meredith Legg, the USC Aiken Lady Pacers (17-7, 10-7 PBC) will likely look back with regret on a tough 80-72 loss at Lander (17-10, 11-6 PBC) in a key women’s Peach Belt Conference basketball match-up on Wednesday night at Horne Arena.   Legg scored nine points, her only field goal of the second half coming at 9:58 mark, to give her 1,001 career points.  The loss snaps the Lady Pacers’ five-game winning streak. (PHOTO BY: Ginny Southworth)

USC Aiken and Lander entered the night tied for fourth in a tightly bunched group of six teams all within one game of first place.  With the loss, however, the Lady Pacers fall two full games behind #23 Francis Marion with four to play.  Also, the Lady Pacers began the night ranked 10th in the NCAA South Atlantic Region, but need a big stretch run for a shot at an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. 

Legg scored five of the team’s first 16 points as USC Aiken built its largest lead of the game at 16-7 with 13:35 left in the opening half.  What followed, however, was a 13-2 Lander run giving the Lady Bearcats their first lead 20-18 with 7:38 on the clock.  LaShonda Chiles connected on a pair of three-pointers to fuel the spurt.  She finished 5-of-11 from deep for a game-high 23 points. 

A three-point play by Stephanie Ponds extended the bulge to 31-24 with 3:33 remaining, but the Lady Pacers closed the half by scoring 10 of the final 12 points to lead at the break 34-33.  The loss marked just the second in 14 times this year when USCA has led at the half.

Avonte Williams poured in 12 of her team-high 18 in the opening stanza.  She finished 8-of-15 from the field to go with eight rebounds and five assists. 

Back-to-back three-pointers by Megan Starnes and Jordon Thomas pushed the spread to 46-40 with 15:19 to play, but Lander countered with a 17-2 run, grabbing a lead that USC Aiken could never manage to overcome. 

Starnes scored 16 on 7-of-12 shooting while Thomas added nine.  Legg entered the game as the nation’s sixth best three-point shooter, but finished just 1-of-7. 

Tiara Good was fouled while making a three-pointer with 10:23 left as the rare four-point-play capped off the 17-2 run in which Shannon McKever scored eight of her 18 second half points.  She finished with 20 on 10-of-13 shooting. 

Despite USC Aiken making one more field goal, Lander outscored the league’s best free throw shooting team 11-1 at the charity stripe thanks in large part to a dominating second stanza on the glass.  The Lady Bearcats finished with a 25-6 margin in second chance points. 

Down 11 with 8:33 to play, Starnes scored five-straight as the Lady Pacers used a 12-2 run to claw within a single point at 65-64 with 5:50 remaining.  On the ensuing possession, however, McKever’s offensive putback of a Good missed shot resulted in a foul on Williams and a technical foul assessed to Legg. 

With the conversion of the two free throws, the four-point play swung the momentum as Lander pushed the lead back to multiple possessions at 69-64.  After two Lady Pacer turnovers led to four more Lander points, the deficit grew to 73-64 with 3:52 to play and USCA never threatened again.

Morgan Johnson scored 17 for the Lady Pacers on 8-of-11 shooting to go with five boards and three blocks.  As a team, USC Aiken shot over 50 percent for the fourth time in the last six games. 

Good finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds while Ponds accounted for 13 of Lander’s 24 bench points.  Nakia Pinkney had all three of the Lady Pacers. 

USC Aiken returns home to host Columbus State on Saturday, February 23 at 5:30 PM at the Convocation Center.  The game will be carried free of charge on the internet via the NCAA’s Broadband package. 

Newspaper Box Score
USC Aiken vs Lander University
02/20/08 5:30 PM at Greenwood, S.C. (Horne Arena)

LANDER 80, USC AIKEN 72

USC AIKEN (17-7, 10-7 PBC)
Williams, Avonte 8-15 0-0 18; Johnson, Morgan 8-11 1-5 17; Starnes, Megan 7-12 0-0 16; Legg, Meredith 4-14 0-0 9; Thomas, Jordon 4-6 0-0 9; Pinkney, Nakia 1-3 0-0 3; Crapps, Cameron 0-0 0-0 0; Harris, Triahna 0-1 0-0 0; Broadwater, LaToshia 0-0 0-0 0; Leppanen, Satu 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-63 1-5 72.

LANDER (17-10, 11-6 PBC)
Chiles, LaShonda 7-18 4-4 23; McKever, Shannon 10-13 0-4 20; Ponds, Stephanie 5-6 3-3 13; Good, Tiara 4-14 3-3 13; Smith, Kianna 3-7 1-2 7; Butler, TaSheba 2-6 0-0 4; McCall, Candi 0-1 0-0 0; Butler, Andrea 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 31-66 11-16 80.

USC Aiken.....................   34   38  -   72
Lander...........................   33   47  -   80

3-point goals--USC Aiken 7-21 (Starnes, Megan 2-4; Williams, Avonte 2-6; Legg, Meredith 1-7; Pinkney, Nakia 1-1; Thomas, Jordon 1-2; Harris, Triahna 0-1), Lander 7-22 (Chiles, LaShonda 5-11; Good, Tiara 2-8; Smith, Kianna 0-2; Butler, TaSheba 0-1). Fouled out--USC Aiken-None, Lander-None. Rebounds--USC Aiken 33 (Williams, Avonte 8), Lander 39 (Good, Tiara 10). Assists--USC Aiken 19 (Williams, Avonte 5), Lander 23 (Butler, TaSheba 6; Good, Tiara 6). Total fouls--USC Aiken 15, Lander 12. Technical fouls--USC Aiken-Legg, Meredith, Lander-None. A-474

BOXSCORE