Box Score (.pdf)

Spartanburg, S.C. – Brittany Starling led three players in double-figures with a game-high 24 points and nine rebounds as the USC Upstate women's basketball team defeated the Bob Jones Bruins 96-46 Tuesday evening in its home opener from the Hodge Center.

Upstate improves to 2-1 overall while Bob Jones drops to 4-4.

Starling tied her career-high with 12 free throws after going 12-for-14 at the line. Overall, the senior went 6-of-12 shooting, and added two assists, two steals and one block. Tamera Thorpe added a career-high 13 points and Raven Jefferson contributed 12. Rose Robinson dished out six assists.

Bhrianna Jackson scored a team-high 13 points for the Bruins, and Kendra Jeffcott and Brianna Delaney collected seven rebounds apiece.

The opening five minutes of the first quarter saw both teams trade points as Hannah Thompkins gave Bob Jones a 10-8 lead with 6:01 left after her three. Starling tied the game at 10-10 the following possession with her layup, sparking a 9-2 run for the Spartans as they led 19-12 at the 2:37 mark. Thorpe's triple with 30 seconds left gave Upstate a 24-16 advantage after the first quarter.

Kristen Dickerson provided the Spartans their first double-digit lead of the game during the opening possession of the second quarter when her jumper put the score at 26-16. The Bruins would only get as close as eight after that when Sha'Ron Brunon's layup 47 seconds later cut Bob Jones' deficit to 26-18. Upstate held the Bruins to only two points over the final 2:31 as it built up a 50-30 lead just before intermission on Starling's three-point play.

The Spartans opened the third quarter with an 18-0 run covering 7:06 and led by as many as 38 during the stretch on Thorpe's layup with 3:22 to go. Upstate led 79-37 heading into the final period after a basket by Dae Dae Jordan.

Bob Jones recorded just nine points in the fourth quarter as the Spartans took their largest lead of the contest at 94-40 with 4:40 remaining on a three-pointer from DeNisha Swain. A'Lexxus Davis tallied the final field goal for Upstate at the 2:22 mark following her jumper in the paint. A three by Delaney with 27 seconds remaining put the final score at 96-46.

The Spartans outscored the Bruins 46-16 in the second half and limited Bob Jones to just 6-of-35 (17.1%) shooting combined over the final two periods.

The 96 points scored by Upstate are the most since defeating Lipscomb 91-71 on Mar. 8, 2014 in Nashville. The Spartans scored over 90 points twice that season with both coming against Lipscomb.

Upstate finished the game shooting 42.5% (34-of-80) including an 83.3% (20-of-24) clip at the free throw line. The Spartans led in points in the paint (40-14), points off turnovers (30-3), second chance points (22-8), fast break points (8-2) and bench points (50-22).

Bob Jones posted a 27.7% (18-for-65) shooting percentage, while going 6-for-23 (26.1%) from three and 4-for-7 (57.1) at the charity stripe.

Upstate remains at home Thursday evening as it hosts Southern Wesleyan at 5 p.m.

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