Box Score (.pdf)

Jacksonville, Fla. – Sharmayne Edwards scored a career-high 29 points and Brittany Starling picked up her ninth double-double of the season as USC Upstate held off a second half run by the Jacksonville Dolphins for a 60-58 victory Saturday afternoon inside Swisher Gymnasium.

The Spartans improve to 13-12 overall and 5-5 in the A-Sun, while the Dolphins drop to 9-14 on the season and 4-6 in conference play.

Edwards finished the game shooting 11-of-22 from the field and was 4-of-6 from the free-throw line while connecting on three three-pointers. Starling added 13 points, including a 7-of-10 mark at the charity stripe, and pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds. Brittany Clency contributed nine points and Mar'Lisa Braxton had six points and five rebounds.

Sherranda Reddick led Jacksonville with 20 points on 5-of-11 shooting and went 4-for-6 from three. Kayla Gordon finished with 11 points and Kimberly Dawkins had a team-best 12 rebounds.

Edwards and Starling combined for 27 points in the first half as Edwards scored 17 with Starling having 10. Upstate limited Jacksonville to just 17 points on 4-of-21 shooting, besting its mark from the first meeting two weeks ago when JU went 5-of-26 in the opening period.

After a low-scoring eight minutes of the first half which saw the score tied 7-7 with 12:00 remaining when Dawkins equaled the game with her layup. The Spartans controlled the half the rest of the way as Edwards recorded seven straight points to highlight a 13-0 run over nearly six minutes. A pair of free-throws by Clency increased Upstate's lead to 20-7 at the 6:27 mark.

The Dolphins went without a basket for almost eight minutes after Dawkins and LaDeyah Forte' hit three free-throws. A three from Edwards would give the Spartans a 25-9 advantage with 5:06 to go. JU managed to trim the Upstate lead down to 12 with 3:37 left, but the Spartans answered with a 10-4 run to end the half. Edwards gave the Spartans their largest lead of the half at 35-15 with 15 seconds left before intermission. Forte' made it a 35-17 game heading into intermission after her jumper with three seconds to go.

Edwards scored the opening four points of the second half to extend Upstate's lead to a game-high 39-17 at the 18:38 mark. The Spartans led by at least 16 over the next five minutes before the Dolphins began their charge. Jacksonville stormed back to within five, 49-44, with 9:31 left as part of a 17-5 run covering a stretch of 3:55. Loliya Briggs cut the Upstate lead to six after two free-throws but Edwards answered with a three to push the Spartans back in front by nine. Reddick came back the following possession with another three and then added three free-throws to make it a five-point contest.

After Gordon put the score at 51-50 on two free-throws with 6:25 left, Clency hit a three to give Upstate a four-point lead. JU responded to go on a quick 5-0 run to take its first lead of the game, 55-54, with less than three minutes to go. Edwards gave the Spartans the lead back the following possession and would not give it up the rest of the game.

Starling and Edwards made four free-throws over the final 2:16 while the Dolphins were held to one field goal and one free-throw. Starling's two free-throws made the score 59-55 with 1:47 left, but Gordon would cut the lead in half with her layup. The teams traded one free-throw each in the last minute as Upstate held on for the 60-58 win.

The Spartans finished the game shooting 35.6% (21-of-59) while Jacksonville was 14-for-44 (31.8%).

Upstate returns to the Hodge Center next Thursday, Feb. 19 to host Stetson at 7 p.m.

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