Box Score Box Score (.pdf)
Princess Anne, Md. – Brittany Starling led the USC Upstate women's basketball team with her first double-double of the season on 22 points and 10 rebounds, but it was not enough as the Spartans fell short to the Maryland Eastern Shore Lady Hawks 78-59 Sunday afternoon inside Hytche Arena.
Upstate falls to 1-1 on the season while Maryland Eastern Shore improves to 1-1.
Starling compiled her 24th career double-double as a Spartan after finishing the game shooting 11-of-18 overall, falling just one shy each from tying her career-highs. Travonda Haddock set a new career-high with seven assists to go with four blocks, while Brittany Clency and Tamera Thorpe added nine and eight points, respectively.
Ciani Byrom led the Lady Hawks with a game-high 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting and was one of three UMES players to score in double-figures. Alexus Hicks contributed 13 points and Moengaroa Subritzky 10. Taryana Kelly and Taylor Thompson pulled down eight rebounds each.
Upstate trailed by just one midway through the first quarter as Starling's jumper trimmed the Spartan deficit to 8-7 with 4:20 remaining. The Lady Hawks answered with the next six points to take a 12-7 lead less than two minutes later. UMES held a seven-point advantage in the final minute before Thorpe's basket as time expired put the score at 18-13 after the opening period.
The Spartans opened the second quarter on a 7-1 run and took their first lead since the game's opening possession as Clency's three gave Upstate a 20-19 advantage at the 7:24 mark. UMES responded with a 10-4 run covering nearly 3:30 to take a 29-21 lead capped by a jumper from Hicks. After Starling cut the Lady Hawks lead to 29-26, Maryland Eastern Shore limited Upstate to just one point over the next 2:33 to take its largest lead of the opening two quarters at 38-27 after a pair of free throws by Keyera Eaton.
Kristen Dickerson's three just over three minutes into the third quarter got Upstate to within five, 42-37, with 7:59 left. The Spartans got as close as four after that when two free throws from Thorpe put the score at 51-47 at the 3:44 mark. The Lady Hawks outscored Upstate 12-2 the rest of the period to lead 63-49 heading into the fourth quarter following a layup by Subritzky with three seconds to go.
The Spartans trailed by double-digits the entire fourth quarter and got as close as 63-53 with 9:13 remaining on Clency's layup. UMES held its largest lead of the game at the 2:44 mark when Byrom hit two free throws to go ahead 77-57.
Upstate finished the game shooting 36.4% (24-of-66) as a team, 20.0% (3-of-15) from three and 61.5% (8-of-13) at the free throw line. The Spartans held an 11-7 advantage in second chance points and led 4-0 in fast break points.
Maryland Eastern Shore compiled a 45.0% (27-for-60) shooting percentage on the afternoon including a 74.1% (20-for-27) clip at the charity stripe.
Upstate returns to Spartanburg Tuesday evening as it hosts Bob Jones in its home opener at 7 p.m. The first 200 USC Upstate students in attendance will receive a free Upstate Athletics t-shirt and the first 100 fans will get a free #SpartanStrong wristband.
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