Box Score (.pdf)

Spartanburg, S.C.- Junior Raven Jefferson scored a career-high 23 points as four USC Upstate starters finished in double-figures in a 76-50 victory over the North Florida Ospreys Friday evening during the quarterfinals of the A-Sun Women's Basketball Championship from the Hodge Center.

The third-seeded Spartans advance to the semifinal round where they will take on second-seeded Jacksonville on Wednesday at 7 p.m. inside Historic Swisher Gym. Upstate also reached the 20-win mark for the second time in the Division I era (2009-10).

Jefferson scored 23 points, followed by Brittany Starling with 18, Kristen Dickerson with 11 and Travonda Haddock with 10. Haddock posted her second consecutive double-double with a game-high 12 rebounds while Starling pulled down 10 boards for her 18th double-double of the season.

Claire Ioannidis scored 21 points to lead North Florida while Sierra Shepherd finished in double figures with 10 points.

A Shepherd jumper opened the scoring at the 8:15 mark only to see the Spartans claim an 8-4 lead after a Haddock free throw with 6:54 to play. A Karrah Johnson jumper trimmed the Upstate lead to 8-6 before the Spartans closed out the first quarter on a 9-3 run for a 17-9 lead.

Jefferson sank a three-pointer with 9:31 to play in the second quarter for a 20-11 Spartan lead. North Florida used a 9-0 run capped by an Ioannidis three-pointer to pull within four, 24-20, with 5:49 to go. Upstate took a 31-20 lead thanks to a Jefferson layup with 1:56 remaining in the opening half. Ioannidis completed the scoring in the second quarter on a layup with eight seconds left as Upstate led 31-22 at halftime.

Ioannidis hit a pair of free throws with 8:35 to play in the third quarter to pull within seven, 31-24. After the Spartans pushed their lead back to double-figures, 35-24, with 7:08 to play, Ioannidis hit two free throws with 5:55 remaining to bring the visitors back within nine. The Spartans closed out the quarter on a 16-8 run to lead 51-34 at the end of the period.

A Jefferson three-pointer with 8:13 remaining in the fourth quarter gave Upstate its first 20-point lead of the night, 56-36. Jefferson gave the Spartans a game-high 31-point lead, 72-41, with 3:45 to go. Vanessa Agrusa's jumper with 11 seconds to play was the final basket of the night as Upstate led by no fewer than 24 down the stretch.

The Spartans finished the game 30-for-72 (41.7%) from the field while North Florida was 19-for-65 (29.2%). Upstate outrebounded North Florida 55-36 and outscored the Ospreys 38-18 in the paint.

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