AMERICUS - The Georgia Southwestern women's basketball team dropped its conference opener, 70-61, on Monday evening to No. 25 USC Aiken at the Storm Dome.
 
The Lady Hurricanes held a slim 14-10 lead with 11:49 remaining in the first half, but trailed by six at the halftime break, 30-24.  

An 18-4 run in the middle of the second half helped USCA (12-2, 4-0 PBC) open its largest lead of the game (58-40) with just over eight minutes left. 

The Lady Hurricanes would not go away and answered with an 18-5 run of their own, capped by a Kanita Holloway three-pointer, to pull within five points (63-58) with 3:08 to go.

However, GSW could get no closer than five and Kayla Harris scored the Pacers' final seven points to seal the victory. 

Holloway led GSW with 15 points. Nadirah Gardner added 14 and Jessica Bivins scored 13. Cierra Duhart posted 10 points and pulled down 13 rebounds for her second-consecutive double-double.
 
Harris led all scorers with 23 points. Hannah DeGraffinreed chipped in 13.

The Pacers held a 38-14 bench points advantage, with 23 coming from Harris. USCA shot 48.1 percent from the floor for the game, compared to 40.4 percent for GSW.
 
The Lady Hurricanes (6-4, 0-1) travel to Montevallo for a 6:30 p.m. matchup on Saturday.