COLUMBUS, Ga. -- North Georgia limited Augusta State to 36 percent shooting Thursday afternoon and upset the Lady Jaguars 70-60 in the opening game of the 2013 Peach Belt Conference Championships in Lumpkin Center on the campus of Columbus State.

Despite the loss, the Lady Jags' chance to make the NCAA Southeast Regional is still realistic. Entering the PBC tourney as the No. 7 team in the third region poll and the 24th-ranked team in the nation, ASU will have to wait for Sunday's 10 p.m., announcement of the NCAA Tournament field.

Senior forward Tiffany Jaecks paced ASU with a career-high 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting. Second-team, all-PBC selection Tanchelle Hollingsworth drained four 3-pointers and posted 14 points, four assists and five steals. Senior Brittany White turned in eight assists and five steals, while junior Brooke McCants notched eight points off the bench.

All-conference performers Jaymee Carnes (23), Stephanie Huffman (23) and Mimi Hill (20) combined for 66 of the Saints' 70 points.

The No. 4 seed from the PBC West Division, the Saints (13-14) enjoyed a decided advantage at the charity stripe, shooting 24-of-38 from the free throw line, while ASU went only 5-of-9. Losing the steals and turnovers contest, UNG capitalized from the floor shooting 43.2 percent in the game to ASU's 35.8 percent.

Junior Tanchelle Hollingsworth hit an early 3-pointer and a couple of ASU steals put the Lady Jags up 5-0. UNG responded with a full-court press to steal the lead off a layup from Carnes. Carnes and Hill controlled the glass in the first half as the Saints took a 35-24 advantage at the break.

ASU, the East Division's regular-season champion and top seed, came out swinging in the second half to score quick nine points and cut its deficit to 40-33 off Jaecks' layup and a trey from Hollingsworth. Down by seven, ASU's Jemimah Ashby completed a three-point play and nailed a jumper before Jaecks hit one from beyond the arc.

Trailing by five, Hollingsworth nailed a wide-open trey with 8:55 remaining to give ASU the momentum. UNG hit two from the free throw line, but ASU's defense shut down the next three Saint possessions to bring it to a one-point affair at 47-46 on a Jaecks' layup with 7:41 to play.

The Saints took a 61-54 lead with just under 3:00 minutes to play off eight points from the charity stripe and some timely layups. ASU senior Taylor Ayers canned two free throws to cut it to five, but the clock played against the Lady Jags who were forced to foul and put UNG at the charity stripe. With under a minute, ASU's 3-point attempts would not fall - resulting in a 70-60 UNG win.