Greensboro, NC – Peace College visited Greensboro College for the second time in as many weeks, this time with the season on the line. The Pacers were no match for the Pride last week as the regular season came to a close, but in the first round of the USA South Conference tournament Tuesday night, Peace made sure they would not go down without a fight.

LeAnne Horne nailed a free throw with 1:05 remaining to tie the game up at 75-75, but reigning conference player of the year Staci Humphrey made sure that Peace would not end the season for the Pride and scored six points down the stretch to help her team overcome a possible upset bid by the sixth seeded Pacers.

Early on, the game did not appear to be heading in the direction that it would end. Greensboro started the game on a 13-2 scoring run before the Pacers warmed up in large part to post player Brittany Lynn. Lynn helped Peace cut the lead to 14-15 when she hit a ten foot jumper from just outside the paint to cap off the 12-2 Pacers scoring run with the help of Lauren Seeger and Christy Freeman.

Although Peace had plenty of help from everyone on the court, the story of the game was LeAnne Horne. At the 11:04 mark of the first half, Horne gave her team their first lead of the game when she drained a three-pointer from beyond the arc to put the Pacers up 21-20. Greensboro would take the lead back and headed into the half up 39-36, but Horne would finish the game as the teams leading scorer with 21 points, and also added seven rebounds and six assists in the losing effort.

Horne would again give the Pacers the lead with 3:37 left in the game when she hit a 20-foot jumper to put Peace up 71-70, but the Pride would not go away. Humphrey led her team down the stretch to put the game out of reach for the Pacers and move the Pride through to the semi-finals of the USA South Conference tournament, which will be held on the campus of Christopher Newport University this weekend.\

Peace closes the season with plenty to look forward to next season. Horne, who is a strong candidate for USA South Conference rookie of the year honors, led the Pacers with her 21 points followed by Christy Freeman with 16 points. Lauren Seeger recorded another double-double with her 14-point, ten rebound performance. All three players will be back next season. In fact, the Pacers only say good bye to senior EB Watson, who finished her career on the disabled list due to an ailing back injury. Every other member of this year’s team will return for another two seasons as the squad was composed of strictly sophomores and first year players. Unless coach Kelly Johnson can find a senior transfer player, next years team will be required again to lean on the shoulders of a plethora of juniors. The future looks bright for the Pacers.