DeLand, Fla. – USC Upstate had three players score in double-figures Thursday evening against Stetson, but it was not enough as the Hatters earned a 78-64 victory in Atlantic Sun action inside the Edmunds Center.

The Spartans fall to 6-8 on the season and 1-2 in league play, while Stetson improves to 9-5 overall and 1-1 in the conference.

Shelby Hicks led all Spartans with 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench after finishing 5-of-9 from the field. Hicks was joined in double-digits by Lauren Bogle and Brittany Clency with 10 points each. Valese McAllister added nine points and Brittany Starling contributed eight rebounds.

Upstate trailed by just three points at halftime, 41-38, but went just 10-of-43 in the second half as the Hatters were successful on 13-of-27 attempts for a 48.1% clip. Stetson opened the second half scoring six of the first eight points to take a seven-point lead at 47-40. Bogle answered with a three to cut the lead to 47-43 with 15:39 left, but the Hatters would open the game up over the next 6:47 courtesy of a 21-5 run. During that run, the Spartans missed eight consecutive shots as Stetson led by as many as 22 points, 70-48, after a three-point play by Sasha Sims.

Upstate fought back toward the end of the game as it posted an 11-2 run over a span of 5:05 to make it 72-60 with 2:30 left on Maddie Herr's jumper. Hicks sparked the run as she scored seven straight points highlighted by her first career three-pointer. Herr connected on two more field-goals after that including the final one of the game to make the score 78-64.

Clency scored all 10 of her points in the first half as it featured six ties and seven lead changes. The Spartans connected on three of their first five field-goals to give them their largest lead of the half, 8-4, with 17:18 left on Clency's jumper.

Following Clency's basket, the Hatters went on a 10-1 run over 3:29 to take a 14-9 lead on Sims' layup. Upstate answered with five straight points from McAllister and Toni Romiti to tie the game at 14-14. Alex Stanford gave the Spartans the lead back, 16-14, with her layup, but Stetson regained the lead on the following possession with Myeisha Hall's three-pointer.

The two teams traded leads twice over the next three minutes as Brianti Saunders made it 22-22 with 8:39 left following her layup. Saunders put the Hatters ahead 24-22 two possessions later but Clency answered with a jumper to make it 24-24 with 6:39 remaining before halftime. The Spartans trailed for the remainder of the half as they fell behind 36-29 with 3:22 left after two free-throws by C.J. Coddington.

Upstate ended the half on a 9-5 run to cut its deficit to 41-38 heading into the locker room. During that stretch, the Spartans made it a two-point contest, 36-34, as McAllister and Sharmayne Edwards combined for five points to start the run. Herr hit two free-throws with 21 seconds left to give Upstate its final points of the half.

The Spartans finished the game shooting 32.0% (24-of-75) from the floor and were 11-of-14 (78.6%) at the charity stripe. Stetson was 28-of-54 (51.9%) as a team and 16-of-26 (61.5%) at the free-throw line.

The Hatters held a 38-20 advantage in points in the paint, 22-18 in points off turnovers and 12-2 in fast break points. Upstate led in second-chance points (17-6) and points from the bench (37-12).

Sims led Stetson with a game-high 24 points and was one of four players to finish in double-figures. She was joined by Saunders (14), Coddington (11) and Amber Porter (10).

The Spartans return to action Saturday, Jan. 11 as it travels to face Florida Gulf Coast at 7:05 p.m.

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