Box Score (.pdf)



Spartanburg, S.C. – Raven Jefferson led four players in double-figures Sunday afternoon as USC Upstate held an opponent to its lowest point total of the season following a 72-44 victory over the Brevard College Tornados inside the Hodge Center.

Upstate improves to 4-3 on the season while Brevard falls to 0-4.

Jefferson recorded a career-high seven rebounds and six steals to go with her 12 points. Sharmayne Edwards scored a game-high 13 points for the Spartans, and Brittany Starling and Kristen Dickerson added 10 each. Starling grabbed six rebounds, while Jefferson, Dickerson and Alex Stanford contributed three assists apiece.

Katie Williams led the Tornados with nine points and Madison Lenox pulled down a team-best eight rebounds. Claudia Arcega collected seven rebounds and five blocks.

Following a jumper by Maddie Herr to opening the scoring, Brevard scored the next nine points to push its lead to 9-2 after Chelsea Turner's layup with 16:25 left. Upstate countered with a 10-0 run covering nearly three minutes to take a 12-9 lead. Turner then recorded the next three points to extend the Tornado advantage to 14-12, and would stretch it to three, 17-14, with 7:45 remaining on her three-pointer.

The Spartans used a 12-2 run over the next 5:14 to take their largest lead of the half at 26-19 on a layup from Coco Ritter. Brevard managed to get to within two, 27-25, with 27 seconds left before halftime, but Edwards connected on a last-second three to send Upstate into the break ahead 30-25.

The second half saw the Spartans limit the Tornados to just 19 points on 6-of-33 (18.2%) shooting as they connected on 58.6% (17-of-29) of their shots and outscored Brevard 30-8 in the paint.

Upstate opened the second half with six straight points from Ritter, Starling and Travonda Haddock to move its lead to 36-25 less than four minutes into the period. A jumper by Starling two minutes later pushed the Spartan lead to 42-30. Brevard was only able to get to within nine the rest of the way when a field-goal by Taylor Hiatt at the 12:42 mark made it a 42-33 game.

A 15-2 run midway through the half broke the game open for Upstate as back-to-back jumpers by Edwards gave it a 22-point cushion, 57-35, with 6:16 remaining. The Spartans led by at least 20 the remainder of the contest. Haddock's layup with 15 seconds left gave the home team their largest lead of the game at 72-44. Upstate held the Tornados to three field-goals over the final 5:17.

The Spartans forced a season-high 33 turnovers from Brevard, leading to a 32-12 advantage in points off turnovers. Upstate finished the game shooting 43.1% (28-of-65) as a team while the Tornados were 15-for-58 (25.9%) overall.

The Spartans also led in points in the paint (38-20), second-chance points (14-13), fast-break points (8-4) and bench points (42-15).

Upstate starts a two-game road trip Tuesday night as it travels to Tuscaloosa, Ala. to face the Alabama Crimson Tide at 7 p.m. from Foster Auditorium.

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