NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Junior Hannah Ohl's (Danville, Ill.) step-back three-pointer with seven seconds to play did not fall and Belmont was able to put the game away with two late free throws en route to a 74-69 win Thursday night inside the Curb Event Center.

Tee'Ara Copney (Asheville, N.C.) paced the Spartans with 17 points, while Lauren McRoberts (Carmel, Ind.) added 14.  Briana Robinson (Columbia, S.C.) and Tyra Smith (Lawrenceville, Ga.) reached double-figures with 13 and 10, respectively.

Upstate (7-19, 6-9) got on the scoreboard first as Smith connected on a running lay-up and sank her free throw after being fouled on the drive with 18:41 to play in opening half.

The Spartans maintained the lead over the first four-plus minutes of the contest until Belmont (10-16, 9-6) took its first lead of the contest, 13-12, on an Adrienne Tarrence lay-up with 15:06 to play in the half.

Upstate regained the lead on a McRoberts jumper with exactly 14 minutes remaining in the opening frame.  McRoberts' bucket sparked a 12-5 run over a span of 4:30 that gave the visiting club a 25-18 lead with 9:30 left in the half.  McRoberts and Robinson tallied six points apiece during the Spartan spurt.

Belmont responded with a 15-5 run over a stretch of four minutes to take a 33-30 lead with 5:03 to play in the first.  The Bruins connected on three triples during the run.

After Belmont's Katie Brooks connected on a jumper in the paint with 2:07 to play, putting the Bruins up by three, the Spartans scored five of the final seven points as the two teams headed to the locker room deadlocked at 37.

The two squads battled back-and-forth during the opening minutes of the second half.  A pair of free throws by Kim Roach (Columbia, S.C.) tied the contest at 50 with 13:54 to play.

Belmont followed Roach's free throws with a 7-2 run to take a 59-52 lead with 10:38 to play.

The Spartans narrowed the gap and remained close over the final 10 minutes.  Upstate made things interesting in the final minutes when Copney sank a triple from the wing to close the gap to just two points with 29 seconds to play. 

After two freebies by Belmont, Copney drove down the court and sank a jumper in the paint to trim the deficit to one (70-69) with 17 seconds to play. 

Belmont's Haley Nelson put the Bruins back in front by three with 14 seconds to play after sinking a pair of free throws.

Ohl's shot from beyond the arc didn't tie the game with less than 10 seconds to play and Belmont went on to claim the five point win.

Upstate will wrap-up the two-game swing through the Music City Saturday with a 4 p.m. (CT) battle at Lipscomb.