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Nashville, Tenn. – Brittany Starling scored a game-high 19 points while pulling down 15 rebounds as the USC Upstate Spartans defeated Lipscomb 81-54 at Allen Arena on Saturday.
Upstate improves to 13-8 overall and 4-2 in the Atlantic Sun while Lipscomb drops to 3-18 and 0-6.
Starling recorded her 12 double-double of the season while scoring 10 or more points for the 16th time this season. Kristen Dickerson scored 13 points, followed by Tamera Thorpe and Travonda Haddock with 12 each. Raven Jefferson finished in double figures for the second straight game.
Loren Cagle scored 12 points to lead Lipscomb, followed by Alex Banks and Riley Northway with 10 each. Northway led the Lady Bisons with seven rebounds.
Upstate opened the game on a 5-0 run with a Starling jumper and Jefferson three-pointer. Lipscomb answered with three-pointers by Cagle and Kelli Smith to take a 6-5 edge. The Spartans went on a 10-0 run beginning with a pair of layups by Starling and Dickerson for a 16-6 lead at the 4:15 mark. Lipscomb cut the Upstate advantage to 16-10 on a pair of Northway jumpers before the Spartans pushed their lead to 23-11 on a Thorpe three-pointer with 1:47 remaining. Upstate led 23-13 at the end of the opening quarter.
A Starling layup opened a 7-0 run for the Spartans to open the second quarter. Following a Dickerson layup to give Upstate a 33-15 edge with 4:17 to play, Lipscomb went on a 6-0 run to cut the Upstate lead to 33-21 with just over two minutes to go in the quarter. The Spartans led 37-23 at halftime.
The Spartans opened the third quarter on a 7-2 run for a 42-25 lead. Morgan Turner sank a pair of free throws at the 4:27 mark to bring the Lady Bisons within 12, 44-32, as Lipscomb went on a 7-0 run. Brittany Clency completed the old-fashioned three-point play to push the Spartan lead back to 15 only to see Lipscomb pull to within 10, 47-37, after a Cagle layup with 2:22 remaining. Haddock's layup with 1:04 to go gave the Spartans a 53-39 lead but a Cagle three-pointer cut the Spartan lead to 11. Clency hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer from just inside half court to give Upstate a 58-43 lead at the end of three quarters.
Thorpe capped a 9-0 Spartan run to open the fourth quarter with a jumper at the 8:08 mark for a 67-43 Upstate lead. Smith brought the Lady Bisons to within 22 (69-47) with 6:54 remaining. Bailey Wensler answered with a three-pointer for the Spartans as Upstate led by a game-high 30 points, 79-49, following a pair of A'Lexxus Davis free throws with 2:20 to play. DeNisha Swain scored the final points of the game on a layup with two seconds remaining.
Upstate finished 27-for-65 (41.5%) from the field and was 21-for-27 (77.8%) at the free throw line. Lipscomb was 19-for-54 (35.2%) from the field and 9-for-12 (75%) at the charity stripe. Upstate outscored Lipscomb 32-16 in the paint and 20-4 in second chance points.
The Spartans return to the Hodge Center on Thursday, hosting Kennesaw State at 7 p.m. before a rematch against Lipscomb next Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
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