Macon, Ga. – Valese McAllister recorded her first career double-double and Toni Romiti finished with a career-high 15 points, but USC Upstate was unable to complete the second-half comeback as it fell to the Mercer Bears 79-71 Thursday night from Hawkins Arena.

The Spartans fall to 12-12 on the season and 7-6 in A-Sun play, while the Bears improve to 13-12 overall and 6-8 in the league.

McAllister registered 16 points and 10 rebounds as she was 5-of-8 from the field and 6-for-8 at the charity stripe. Romiti surpassed her career-high in points for the second straight contest as she knocked down 5-of-13 three-pointers on the night. Alex Stanford added 11 points off the bench and Brittany Clency contributed 10.

Kendra Grant led all scorers for Mercer as she picked up a game-high 17 points, and was one of four Bears to score in double-figures. Kate Alemann posted 16 points on 8-of-13 shooting while Sharnea Boykin and Briana Williams each had 13. Teanna Robinson ended up with a team-high nine rebounds.

Alemann and Grant combined to hit Mercer's first five field-goal attempts to lead 10-5 through the opening 3:51. Upstate followed with two straight baskets by Stanford and Brittany Starling to cut its deficit down to one at 10-9. The Bears later extended their lead out to four, 18-14, on a free-throw by Robinson.

Romiti put the Spartans back to within one, 18-17, the following possession with her three. Boykin responded by increasing Mercer's lead back to four after her three-point play, but Upstate stuck around to trail by less than three until two free-throws by Shelby Hicks gave the Spartans their first lead of the game at 27-26 with 5:01 remaining.

Alemann and Grant quickly put the Bears ahead by six, 33-27, after teaming up for seven straight points. Grant started with a three and Alemann hit two jumpers with the last coming with 1:47 to go. Clency scored the half's final five points as Upstate went into the locker room down 33-32. The Spartans managed to hold Mercer scoreless after the last field goal by Alemann.

Grant opened the second half with a three to extend the Mercer lead to four and Alicia Williams later hit two free-throws to give the Bears a 40-34 advantage. Upstate held Mercer scoreless for the next four minutes as it fought back to tie the game 40-40 on a jumper by Hicks with 13:15 left. The two teams traded the lead back-and-forth for the next several minutes as the Spartans trailed 51-50 at the 7:33 mark.

A 16-3 run by Mercer over the next 4:20 opened its lead up to a game-high 15 points, 68-53, with 2:42 to go as the final six points came at the free-throw line. Romiti trimmed Upstate's deficit to seven at the 1:04 mark after hitting two straight three's. That would be as close as the Spartans were able to get on several occasions as the Bears were able to hold their lead at the free-throw line.

Upstate finished the game shooting 38.5% (25-of-65) while Mercer connected on 44.4% (24-of-54) of its shots.

The Spartans led in points in the paint (22-14), points off turnovers (16-12), second chance points (13-9) and bench points (34-19).

Upstate travels to Kennesaw State for a 2 p.m. matchup Saturday afternoon.

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