Jacksonville, Fla. – Despite shooting 55 percent from the floor in the second half and placing four players in double figures, including Kyana Jacobs' first career double-double, USC Upstate could not overcome a Jacksonville run midway through the second half and fell to the Dolphins, 87-75, Monday night in A-Sun women's basketball action.

Upstate fell to 7-8 overall and 4-3 in the A-Sun with the loss, dropping its last three league games. The Spartans will be back in action Wednesday night at 7:00 when they play host to Longwood in a non-conference game in the Hodge Center. Jacksonville improved to 8-8 overall and 3-4 in the league with the win.

"I thought we put in a solid effort, but we only played for 35 minutes," said Upstate head coach Tammy George. "In this league, you have to play all 40 minutes to win games."

It was definitely an offensive showing in Swisher Gym as the teams combined for 162 points. Upstate and Jacksonville were nearly identical shooting the ball with both teams shooting 48 percent from the field, 38 percent from the three-point arc and 71 percent from the free throw line. A big difference in the game was that Upstate committed 20 turnovers which led to 28 Jacksonville points. The Dolphins held a 28-10 advantage in points off turnovers.

Upstate started quickly with a three-pointer from Kendra Wallace (Hurricane, W.Va.) and a layup from Tee'Ara Copney (Asheville, N.C.) to open a 5-2 lead. However, the Spartans were dealt an early blow when Chelsea McMillan (East Gadsden, Fla.) picked up her second foul just 2:03 into the game. She played sparingly the rest of the half.

Although McMillan was relegated to the bench except for brief one-minute spurts here and there, Upstate was ready for a battle. After falling behind by one, 14-13, with 14:08 to play in the half, the Spartans used a 12-3 run to open a 26-17 lead at the 9:22 mark.

Jacksonville answered with an 11-0 run to open a 28-25 lead. The Dolphins increased the lead to six with 4:02 to play before halftime, but Upstate rallied to tie the game at 38-38 at the intermission.

Jacksonville was solid from the floor, hitting over 48 percent of its shots, though the Dolphins were just 3-of-11 from the arc. Upstate shot 43 percent from the field, but was 4-of-8 from the arc. Copney paced Upstate with 13 points in the half.

Upstate came into the game with a strategy to limit the inside play of Jacksonville and force the Dolphins to win the game from the perimeter. The Dolphins entered the game shooting 28 percent from the three-point arc. In the second half, they made three-pointers at crucial times which spelled the difference.

After McMillan tied the game with a layup at the 12:54 mark, Jacksonville sank three three-pointers in the next four minutes to spark a 15-6 run as the Dolphins opened a nine-point lead. Maggie Wilson sank two of the three-pointers as Jacksonville opened a 64-55 lead.

Upstate would not go down without a fight. The Spartans ran off five-straight points on a three-pointer from Copney and a jumper from McMillan, cutting the Jacksonville lead to four. It would be as close at Upstate would get the rest of the way. Jacksonville pushed the lead to eight points with 5:33 to play in the game and extended the lead to as many as 11 before taking the 12 point win.

Copney led all scorers with 24 points to go along with four assists. McMillan had her string of six-straight double-doubles broken, but finished with 14 points and eight rebounds. Kyana Jacobs (Dale City, Va.) finished with 12 points and a career-high 10 assists for her first career double-double. The 10 assists also ties the Upstate Division I era record, matching the 10 dished out by Copney at Indiana State (Dec. 12). Wallace added 10 points as the fourth Spartan in double figures.

Gigi Thomas led Jacksonville with 17 points and four assists. Ashanti Williams added 16 points and six assists. Taneske Richardson was solid with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Crystal bell added 13 points for the Dolphins.