AMERICUS, Ga. - The Armstrong Atlantic State University women's basketball team shot a season-best 53 percent from the field in halting a two-game slide with an 80-73 Peach Belt Conference basketball victory over host Georgia Southwestern State University on Saturday afternoon in Americus, Ga.

The Pirates (9-6, 4-4 PBC) also put up the most points on the road this season in claiming the win over the Hurricanes (9-4, 1-3 PBC), who dropped their third game out of their last four with the loss.

Georgia Southwestern opened the game scoring the first seven points, but Armstrong tied the game back up on a three-point play by junior D.D. Gipson with 6:46 left in the first half, 19-19. The game would remain all square into halftime deadlocked at 32-all.

With the Hurricanes leading by one early in the second half, 43-42, the Pirates embarked on a 14-1 run to take its largest lead of the game, 57-43, with 12:48 remaining. Georgia Southwestern would close the gap to one possession late, and with the Pirates leading by three with 25 seconds left, Gipson would can a three-pointer to stretch the lead back out to six and clinch the victory.

Sophomore Mauri Wells led a quartet of Armstrong players in double figures with 17 points to go with 12 rebounds, her 13th double-double of the season. Junior Angelia Hill added 15 points while Gipson finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. Junior Demisha Mills added 12 points as well for the Pirates.

"I thought today's win was a big win for Armstrong basketball," Armstrong head coach Matt Schmidt said. "I'm real proud of the effort; it was a true team effort. We got balanced scoring from four or five different players and it was a great Peach Belt Conference win."

Georgia Southwestern was led by Jessica Bivins' game-high 21 points. Terra Branch notched 16 points while Briana Walker added 11 points. Samantha Smith collected 12 rebounds as well for the Hurricanes.

Armstrong hit 28-of-53 shots from the floor for 52.8 percent, the second time this season that the Pirates have shot 50% or better in game, while Georgia Southwestern hit just 26-of-75 shots from the floor for 34.7 percent.

The Pirates return to action on Thursday, January 19, hosting Montevallo in Peach Belt Conference action at 5:30 p.m. at Alumni Arena.