Box Score (.pdf)

Spartanburg, S.C. – Brittany Starling posted a double-double with 14 points and 24 rebounds but it wasn't enough to overcome a hot start by Florida Gulf Coast as they defeated USC Upstate 56-44 on Monday in the Hodge Center.

Florida Gulf Coast improves to 23-4 and 11-0 in the Atlantic Sun Conference while Upstate falls to 17-9 and 8-3. The loss snaps a six-game winning streak for the Spartans.

Starling's 24 rebounds were one shy of her career-high and three shy of tying the school record of 27 held by Gwen Proctor. Brittany Clency scored nine points, with Travonda Haddock pulling down eight rebounds.

Taylor Gradinjan led FGCU with 18 points, followed by Whitney Knight with 13 points. Gradinjan was 6-for-11 from behind the three-point line. Knight earned a double-double with a team-leading 10 rebounds.

Knight got the visitors on the board with a jumper that just beat the shot clock at the 9:19 mark. Starling tied the game at 2 on a jumper with 8:53 to go. After the Spartans tied the contest at 7 on a Haddock layup, Florida Gulf Coast went on a 10-0 run for a 17-7 lead following a Katie Meador layup with 3:11 remaining in the quarter. Neither team would score for the remainder of the period.

Starling cut the Spartan deficit to nine following a layup at the 9:29 mark only to see the Eagles sink a pair of three-pointers by DyTiesha Dunston and Gradinjan for a 23-9 lead with 7:15 to play. Following a Tamera Thorpe layup with 5:21 to go, Florida Gulf Coast went on a 15-2 run for a 38-13 lead after a pair of Stephanie Haas free throws. Haddock scored the final points of the half on a layup just before the buzzer as FGCU led 38-17 at halftime.

After Knight gave FGCU a 41-21 lead on a three-pointer with 7:17 to go in the third quarter, Upstate used a 6-1 run capped by a Raven Jefferson layup to pull within 15, 42-27, with 5:07 remaining. The Upstate deficit would stay between 16 and 19 points before a Kaneisha Atwater layup sent FGCU into the fourth quarter with a 52-31 lead. Both teams scored 14 points in the quarter.

The Spartans opened the fourth quarter on a 9-0 run capped by a Thorpe jumper with 4:51 to go to bring Upstate within 12, 52-40. Atwater answered for the Eagles with a layup to push their advantage back to 14, 54-40, with 3:45 remaining. Clency scored the final points of the game on a layup with 63 seconds left as the Spartans held FGCU to four points in the final quarter.

FGCU finished the game 20-for-57 (35.1%) from the field and 10-for-28 (35.7%) from behind the arc while Upstate went 18-for-68 (26.5%) from the field and 2-for-12 (16.7%) in three-point attempts. Each team made six of eight free throw attempts. The Eagles held a 45-44 rebounding edge, however, Upstate outscored FGCU in the point by a 24-18 margin.

The Spartans begin their final road trip of the regular season against North Florida on Saturday at 2 p.m.

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