Fort Myers, Fla. – Jama Sharp scored a game-high 17 points as the second-seeded Stetson Hatters defeated No. 3 USC Upstate 90-60 in the semifinals of the Atlantic Sun Tournament on Saturday afternoon inside Alico Arena.

The Spartans fall to 17-14 overall while the Hatters improve to 26-6 and advance to the tournament championship game tomorrow against Florida Gulf Coast.

Brittany Clency and Toni Romiti led Upstate with nine points each while Valese McAllister chipped in seven points and eight rebounds.

Sharp finished the game shooting 7-of-12 overall and added four assists and four steals. Amber Porter contributed 14 points while five others posted double figures.

Stetson opened the game on a 13-4 run over the first 4:26 capped off by a layup from C.J. Coddington. The Spartans answered with a 12-0 run of their own during the next three minutes and took their first lead of the game, 14-13, on a free throw by Brittany Starling. McAllister extended the lead to 16-13 with 12:24 left after two free-throws. Myeisha Hall tied the game at 16-16 two possessions later with a three.

The three by Hall sparked a 14-0 run by the Hatters that covered 2:41 and pushed their lead to 27-16 with just over nine minutes left before the half. Upstate came back with two straight baskets from McAllister and Lauren Bogle to trim the deficit down to seven, but Stetson responded with a 15-0 run to give it a 42-20 lead with 3:45 to go. Sharp and Brianti Saunders scored the half's final five points as the Hatters led at halftime 49-23.

Stetson built its lead up to 32 to start the second half as Cherisse Burris hit a three to put the Hatters in front 61-29 at the 15:27 mark. The Spartans managed the cut their deficit down to 25 twice over the next three minutes as Clency made it a 63-38 contest following her jumper. Clency's three would later put Upstate down 71-47 with 7:24 remaining. Stetson increased its lead back to 30 with 5:16 to go as Sasha Sims was successful on her three-point attempt.

The Hatters maintained a lead of at least 27 points the rest of the way as Burris made it 84-53 with 2:25 to go on two free-throws.  Stetson finished the game scoring four of its last six points at the charity stripe.  Maddie Herr came off the bench for the Spartans and recorded six points in the final 4:09.

Upstate shot 38.7% (24-of-62) as a team while the Hatters had a 47.0% (31-of-66) shooting percentage. The Spartans outscored Stetson 30-27 in points off the bench.

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