RALEIGH, NC – It was a tale of two halves for the William Peace University women's basketball team Saturday afternoon. The Pacers led Maryville at the break, 33-31, but the Scots showed why they are ranked no. 13 in the country, as they turned it on in the second half and pulled a way for an 85-54 win.

WPU (5-9, 0-6 USAS) played their best half of basketball this season out of the gates and led by as many as 10 points over three minutes into the second quarter. The Pacers went 58% from the field on 11-of-19 shooting, including 4-of-5 (80%) from beyond the arc. WPU held Maryville to 35% from the field on 11-of-31 shooting, implementing a heavy dose of zone-defense.

Perhaps weary from a triple-overtime marathon the night before, the Pacers couldn't keep up in the second half. WPU's shots stopped falling, and it seemed like Maryville (11-2, 5-0 USAS) was incapable of missing one. The Pacers only shot 22% (4-of-18) in the second half, while the Scots shot 74% (23-of-31) and outscored WPU 54-15 the rest of the way.

"I thought we played well in the first half, but they made a few adjustments and we just didn't react to them well enough in our zone. Like I told them after the game, they played the same the entire game, but we let some of our frustration get the best of us." said head coach Kelly Johnson "I don't care what level it is, anybody can play defense when you're scoring, but if you want to win you have to play it when you're not scoring."

Brittany Boykin led the Pacers with 16 points, three assists and a rebound. Susannah Sykes finished with 11 points thanks to a 3-for-3 outing from the bonushpere. Sykes also grabbed a pair of rebounds and dished out two assists. Dejah Cheatham chipped in with nine points and a steal.

Four players for Maryville reached double-figures led by Madison Maples' 21 points, two rebounds, three assists and three steals. Lauren Biliter finished with 19 points, two rebounds, an assist and a steal. Allyson Freiermuth and Rachel Hawn finished chipped in with 12 points apiece.

The WPU women's basketball team will be back in action this Wednesday, traveling to Danville, Virginia for a conference game against the Cougars of Averett University.

For the latest news and updates from William Peace University Athletics, please visit: http://gopeacepacers.com/.