BEAUFORT, SC – The Augusta University women's basketball team opened Peach Belt Conference play with a 74-67 victory over the USC Beaufort Sand Sharks on the road Wednesday evening. The game marks the first-ever matchup between USC Beaufort and Augusta. AU travels to face Columbus State on Saturday, Jan 6 at 1:30 pm.   
 

Augusta (7-4)
FG% 45.2
3PT% 50
FT% 57.9
 
USC Beaufort (4-5)
FG% 54.2
3PT% 50
FT% 62.5


Autumn Phillips shot 6-for-11 from field goal range to score 18 points. Phillips also added four rebounds, four assists, and a steal. Yamani Paul tallied a season-high 14 points, missing only one field goal for the night. Mone Florence hit three three-pointers to add 13 points. Kennedi Manning led the Augusta rebounding effort with eight. Graduate student Kalen Surles had a game-high five assists.

Florence opened Augusta scoring for the game, hitting a triple less than thirty seconds before hitting another with 4:16 left to play in the first quarter. Both teams traded the lead for the first five minutes before two more three-pointers from Yamani Paul and Nyaneit Puok gave AU a 16-13 advantage. A layup at the buzzer from the Sand Sharks gave USCB a two-point lead heading into the second period. AU shot 56.3 percent from the field in the second quarter to lead by as many as nine points.
 
Two triples from the home team to start the second half shrunk the AU lead to 39-35, but a 9-2 Augusta scoring run provided a 10-point cushion heading into the final 10 minutes of regulation. USC Beaufort would not go quietly. Taniyah Bowman nabbed a steal to shrink the Jaguar lead to 68-63 with 2:07 left to play. A pivotal defensive rebound from Autumn Phillips with 49 seconds left sealed the 74-67 victory for Augusta


  
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