Box Score (.pdf)

Spartanburg, S.C. – Tamera Thorpe scored a career-high 28 points on Saturday afternoon as the USC Upstate women's basketball team overcame a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to record a 66-61 victory over the N.C. Central Eagles in non-conference play at the G.B. Hodge Center.

Upstate improves to 4-10 on the season while N.C. Central falls to 2-11 overall.

A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS

• Thorpe tied her career-high of 10 field goals and finished the game 10-of-17 overall and led the Spartans offensively with 28 points. Thorpe also went 7-for-12 at the free throw line and added four steals and three assists.
• Anda Kuzmina added 13 points and set a new career-high with eight rebounds.
• Morgan Williams contributed 11 points and seven rebounds while A'Lexxus Davis had a team-high nine rebounds for the Spartans.
• Sami Oliver-Alexander scored a team-high 15 points for the Eagles while Rodneysha Martin added 14 and Paulina Afriyie 12.
• Jayla Calhoun led all players with a game-high 10 rebounds.
• Upstate finished the game shooting 38.1 percent (24-of-63) from the field and 72.2 percent (13-for-18) at the free throw line.
• The Spartans did not allow a 3-pointer to N.C. Central in the second half as the Eagles went 0-for-5 behind the 3-point line.
• Upstate forced N.C. Central into 22 turnovers leading to 27 points.
• The Spartans held a 32-18 advantage in points in the paint, 27-14 in points off turnovers, 6-0 in fast break points and 28-9 in bench points.
• The game featured three lead changes and two ties.

FIRST QUARTER BREAKDOWN

• Thorpe scored 11 of her 28 points in the first quarter on 4-of-5 shooting and 3-for-4 at the charity stripe.
• The Eagles scored the game's first four points before Upstate recorded the next four to tie the score at 4-4 with 7:02 remaining on a layup by Thorpe.
• N.C. Central went back ahead by four points until Thorpe added two free throws and Kuzmina connected on a 3-pointer to give the Spartans an 11-10 lead at the 5:10 mark.
• With the score tied at 13-13, the Eagles used an 8-1 run over the course of 1:16 to lead 21-14.
• Thorpe scored the final four points of the quarter as N.C. Central led 21-18.

SECOND QUARTER BREAKDOWN

• The Eagles led by as many as seven points twice over the first four minutes of the second quarter with the last coming at the 6:09 mark when Afriyie made the score 29-22 with her layup.
• Thorpe and Kuzmina combined for a 6-0 run for Upstate over the next 55 seconds to cut its deficit down to 29-28 with 4:51 remaining.
• N.C. Central would go back ahead by six points twice with the Spartans getting as close as four, 34-30, with 3:15 left on a layup by Davis.
• The Eagles led 38-30 at halftime after Alyssa Thompson's layup with 40 seconds to go.

THIRD QUARTER BREAKDOWN

• Upstate scored seven consecutive points as part of a 9-2 run to begin the third quarter and trailed 40-39 at the 6:48 mark on a jumper by Williams.
• N.C. Central managed to increase its lead back to five points before Thorpe's free throw with 2:13 left made the score 44-42.
• The Eagles held the Spartans scoreless over the final 2:12 and finished the quarter on a 6-0 run to lead 50-42.

FOURTH QUARTER BREAKDOWN

• N.C. Central took its largest lead of the game at 52-42 to start the fourth quarter on a jumper by Martin.
• Upstate trailed by nine points twice midway through the quarter with the last coming at 57-48 with 6:21 remaining.
• Thorpe recorded six points as part of an 8-1 run for the Spartans that took less than two minutes as they made it a 58-56 contest with 4:36 to go.
• The Eagles pushed their lead back to five but would be held scoreless over the final 3:28.
• Upstate took the lead with 44 seconds left when Thorpe's layup put the score at 62-61.
• The Spartans finished the game on a 10-0 run with Williams, Thorpe, Riley Popplewell and Brittney Delva all recording points.
• Thorpe's two free throws with four seconds left put the final score at 66-61.

UP NEXT

• Upstate concludes the non-conference portion of its schedule on Tuesday, Jan. 2 when it hosts Brevard at 5 p.m.

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