PEMBROKE — There was no fire and brimstone speech, but whatever The University of North Carolina at Pembroke women's basketball coach John Haskins told his players at halftime worked.

The Lady Braves rallied from 17-point deficit to defeat USC Aiken 55-52 on Wednesday at the English E. Jones Center to win its first Peach Belt Conference game of the year.

"I really didn't say too much at halftime," Haskins said. "I told them we played the first half like we had been practicing the last two days."

After USC Aiken's Catherine Cain drained a jumper to give the Pacers a 32-15 lead at the 18:07 mark of the second half, the Lady Braves (7-6, 1-3) slowly made their comeback behind the 3-point shot, which was an Achilles Heel in the first half. UNCP was 0-for-14 from behind the arc in the opening frame, but responded by hitting 4-of-9 in the final 20 minutes.

Marquena Delk hit back-to-back 3-pointers to begin the comeback. UNCP went on to outscore the Pacers 38-13 over the next 16 minutes to take a 53-45 lead with 2:30 left in the game.

The Lady Pacers (5-7, 0-3) mustered one final rally to trim the UNCP lead to 54-52 and had two chances to tie the game on 3-point shots at the end of the game. Triahna Harris' attempt was short and Brittany Bowen's shot bounced off the back rim as time expired.

JaToya Kemp scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds for UNCP, while Talena Faison added 11. Bowen had 14 points in the loss and Deandra Schirmer 14 rebounds for the Pacers.

The Lady Braves return to action on Jan. 13 at Lander.