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Contact: Katie Parker, kparker@uscupstate.edu

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SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Freshman center Brittany Starling (Sumter, S.C.) shined in the paint as the USC Upstate women's basketball team downed Jacksonville 72-53, while senior point guard Tyra Smith (Lawrenceville, Ga.) quarterbacked the Spartan offense inside the Hodge Center Saturday in Atlantic Sun Conference action on ESPN3.

With the win, Upstate improves to 7-12 on the season and 3-5 in A-Sun play, while Jacksonville fell to 7-12 on the year and 3-5 in conference action. The overall series between the two programs is tied at 5-5. The Spartans picked up their second-straight win, marking the second time this season they have won consecutive contests.

The game was close for the opening 10 minutes as the Dolphins got on the board first and took a five-point lead (9-4) with 15:43 on the clock. This would prove to be JU's largest lead of the game as the Spartans went on a 17-1 run sparked by a three-pointer from senior Hannah Ohl (Danville, Ill.) off of a Smith assist. Smith handed out helpers in all of the Spartans' first four buckets of the game.

Upstate led 21-10 with 8:06 to go in the opening frame, when the Dolphins put together a run of their own, rattling off seven-straight points. JU pulled within three off of a trey from Queen Alford to put the score at 23-20 with 5:11 to go in the half. The three-points would prove to be the closest Jacksonville would get as Upstate closed out the first period with a 17-3 run, giving the Spartans a 40-23 lead at the break.

Starling nearly had a double-double in the first half of play alone, putting up 14 points and grabbing eight rebounds in the opening period, while Smith dished out five assists. Upstate shot 45.5 percent from the floor, compared to JU's 25.9 first-half field goal percentage.

The Spartans kept the momentum in their favor to start the second half, tallying nine-straight points to put them up 49-23. The 26-point lead at 13:50 in the second half was the largest of the game. Upstate held Jacksonville scoreless in the second period until Britney Holliday netted a three-pointer at the 12:10 mark. The three-ball sparked a 12-0 run for the Dolphins, cutting the Spartans' 26-point lead to 14 with 9:13 left to play.

The teams exchanged points for a few minutes, but Jacksonville kept working and pulled within 12 off of a pair of free throws from Briona Brown with 7:29 on the clock. However, the Spartans refused to let the Dolphins complete the comeback as the contest became a game of runs. Proving to still have more left in the tank, Upstate went on a 14-1 run and took a commanding 25-point lead with the score at 67-42. In the remaining 3:20, Jacksonville managed to lessen the blow a little as the Spartans went on to claim the 19-point victory 72-53.

On the day, Starling led all players with a career-high 19 points and a career-best 15 rebounds as the rookie recorded her second double-double of the season on her 19th birthday. The last time an Upstate player snagged 15 boards was Feb. 25, 2012, when Paulina Zaveckaite collected 22 against Stetson. The freshman center has really come alive for the Spartans as of late as this marks the fourth-straight game that Starling has led Upstate in either points or rebounds.

"I knew from the get go that my job was to get rebounds," Starling said. "That's what I do best, that's what I felt they recruited me for because I could rebound the ball, but I haven't really been doing that lately so my coaches got on to me about that recently. They made me write down my goal today for the game and I said, 'dominate the boards' and I just went after it. I told myself, 'every rebound is mine.' Every time the ball goes up, I just keep telling myself, 'go get it.' If I can't get it, nobody else is going to get it."

Smith guided the Upstate offense, recording six assists to go along with seven points, three rebounds and two steals. She was perfect from the line, going 4-for-4 to improve to 85.2 percent from the charity stripe on the season. Senior Tee'Ara Copney (Asheville, N.C.) tallied 13 points, while classmate Lauren McRoberts (Carmel, Ind.) rounded out the double-figures for the Spartans with 11 points.

Freshman Tweety Hawkins (Madison, Ga.) also had a solid effort for Upstate, handing out a career-high six assists, scoring eight points and gathering a career-best five rebounds. Sophomore Shelby Hicks (Greeneville, Tenn.) was a reliable force down low for the Spartans, tallying nine points and snagging six rebounds, while swiping one steal and swatting one blocked shot.

Jacksonville was led by Stephanie Edwards with 14 points, while Alford and Tracie Sneed added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Edwards gave out a team-high four assists, while grabbing a team-best three steals. Sneed and Brown led the Dolphins on the boards, recording six rebounds apiece. Brown also registered seven points.

The Spartans shot 45.9 percent from the floor and 46.2 percent from long distance, while JU was 32.1 percent from the floor and 26.3 percent from three-point range. Upstate was 83.3 percent from line, connecting on 10-of-12 attempts to improve to 74.9 percent on the season and tie FGCU at the top of the A-Sun stats.

Upstate won the battle of the boards 42-31, while also claiming the contest of second chances 10-3. The Spartans outscored JU in the paint 38-22 and off the bench 37-19. Both teams struggled turning the ball over as Upstate committed 25 turnovers and the Dolphins had 26. The Spartans edged Jacksonville in points off of turnovers 23-21.    

The Spartans return action Jan. 28, hosting A-Sun foe North Florida for a 5:03 p.m. tip-off to air on ESPN3. Follow Upstate women's basketball this season on your mobile device, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.