Game Highlights

Spartanburg, S.C. – Alex Stanford's career-high 28 points lifted USC Upstate to its third straight victory Saturday afternoon, defeating the Kennesaw State Owls 72-64 in Atlantic Sun women's basketball action inside the Hodge Center.

The Spartans are now 9-9 on the season and 4-3 in conference play, while the Owls fall to 4-15 overall and 2-6 in the league. Upstate has won three games in row for the first time since Jan. 21-28, 2013 when it was victorious over Kennesaw State, Jacksonville and North Florida.

Stanford's 28 points are the most by a Spartan since Tee'Ara Copney had 30 at Mercer on Feb. 4, 2012, and the highest scored by an Upstate player this season. It is also the third time this year that a Spartan has eclipsed the 20-point mark in a game, and the first since Brittany Starling recorded 22 against Converse on Nov. 10, 2013.

The 5-6 sophomore finished the afternoon shooting 11-of-21 from the field while contributing six rebounds, three assists and one steal. Stanford was one of three Upstate players with double-digit point totals as Sharmayne Edwards and Valese McAllister each had 10 off the bench. McAllister finished just shy of a double-double as she pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.

Deandrea Sayers led the Owls with 20 points and Kristina Wells added 19. Aareon Smith had a game-high 11 rebounds.

The two teams traded leads during the game's first three minutes until a jumper by Sawyers put Kennesaw State in front 7-6. Valescia Dixon added to the lead with two free-throws, but McAllister and Stanford tied the game at 9-9 with 14:56 left. Wells quickly the Owls ahead the following possession with her three-pointer, but the Spartans responded to take a 13-12 lead on Brittany Clency's jumper at the 11:20 mark.

Sawyers and Chloe Branch teamed up for Kennesaw State's next six points to give it a five-point lead at 18-13. Upstate fought back to within one, but Sawyers increased the lead to six with five consecutive points.

The Spartans finished the half on a 12-4 run led by six points from Stanford. She tied the game at 27-27, and then dished to Toni Romiti for a three-pointer with just four seconds left in the half.

Upstate came out after intermission and stretched its lead to five, 32-27, on a layup by Shelby Hicks. The Owls were able to stay within striking distance and took the lead back at 44-42 on Smith's three-pointer with 12:15 remaining. The Spartans followed with a 10-0 run over 2:50 to take a 52-46 lead. Kennesaw State managed to trim the lead down to two on free-throws by Lisa Capellan, but that would be as close as the Owls got the remainder of the game.

Following Capellan's free-throws, Upstate scored the next seven points to take a 59-50 lead on McAllister's layup. Stanford gave the Spartans their largest lead at 68-58 after her three, and would stay at that advantage until the one minute mark.

Kennesaw State hit several field-goals late, but Stanford sealed the win for Upstate with two free-throws. Her last one with nine seconds left gave the Spartans a 72-64 victory.

Upstate finished 27-of-68 (39.7%) as a team and was 16-of-26 (61.5%) at the free-throw line. The Owls were 24-of-58 (41.4%) overall and 10-of-17 (58.8%) from the charity stripe.

The Spartans led in points in the paint (38-26), points off turnovers (15-5), second-chance points (16-12), fast-break points (6-0) and dominated in points off the bench (53-7).

Upstate hits the road for two games next week beginning Thursday, Jan. 30 at 5:30 p.m. against North Florida.

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