Box Score (.pdf)

Cullowhee, N.C. – Riley Popplewell and DeNisha Swain each recorded double-doubles on Tuesday afternoon as the USC Upstate women's basketball team fell 68-64 in overtime to the Western Carolina Catamounts at the Ramsey Center.

USC Upstate falls to 2-6 on the season while Western Carolina improves to 2-8 overall.

A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS

• Popplewell and Swain both collected their second double-doubles of the season.
• Popplewell set a new career-high with 23 points on 11-of-14 shooting to go with 13 rebounds. She also tied her career-high of five steals.
• Swain finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds while dishing out five assists.
• Brianna Lewis contributed 18 points on 8-of-17 shooting and posted a career-best eight assists.
• Lewis and Rylie Parkhurst both had four steals.
• Angel Allen led the Catamounts with a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds while tallying six assists.
• Jewel Smalls had 16 points and eight rebounds while Farasia Hodge finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
• The Spartans concluded the game shooting 36.4 percent (28-of-77) from the field.
• USC Upstate held a 30-12 advantage in points in the paint, 21-18 in points off turnovers and 13-9 in fast break points.
• The game featured 14 lead changes and six ties.

FIRST QUARTER BREAKDOWN

• The teams each scored 12 points in the opening quarter.
• After Western Carolina connected on a 3-pointer to start the game, the Spartans scored four straight points to take a 4-3 lead with 7:23 left on Popplewell's layup.
• Popplewell gave USC Upstate the lead back at 6-5 following her layup with 5:32 remaining.
• Swain gave the Spartans a 9-7 lead with 4:23 to go after her 3-pointer.
• The Catamounts recorded five straight points and led 12-9 at the 2:48 mark.
• Popplewell's 3-pointer with 1:32 remaining tied the score at 12-12.

SECOND QUARTER BREAKDOWN

• USC Upstate outscored Western Carolina 20-16 in the second quarter.
• The Spartans began the quarter on an 11-0 run over the first three minutes and held a 23-12 advantage capped by a jumper from Popplewell.
• Lewis gave USC Upstate its largest lead of the game at 29-14 with 4:53 to go on her jumper.
• Lewis maintained a 32-20 lead for the Spartans at the 3:01 mark following her 3-pointer.
• The Catamounts closed out the half on an 8-0 run that covered the final 2:41.
• USC Upstate led 32-28 at halftime.

THIRD QUARTER BREAKDOWN

• Neither team scored for the first 2:39 of the second half.
• Western Carolina started the half on a 6-2 run and tied the game at 34-34 with 6:18 left.
• After the Catamounts went ahead on the next possession, Swain and Natalia Panufnik scored five straight points and put the Spartans back in front 39-36 at the 4:55 mark.
• Western Carolina took a 42-41 lead with 2:19 remaining after a 3-pointer.
• Popplewell record four straight points and gave USC Upstate a 45-42 lead with 42 seconds left.
• The Spartans held a 45-43 lead heading to the fourth quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER BREAKDOWN

• The fourth quarter featured three ties.
• Popplewell extended USC Upstate's lead to 51-48 at the 5:20 mark with her jumper.
• The Catamounts would take a 58-54 lead with 1:17 left after a 3-pointer.
• Western Carolina went in front 59-56 with 27 seconds remaining on a free throw.
• Swain's 3-pointer with 18 seconds to go tied the score at 59-59 and sent the game into overtime.

OVERTIME BREAKDOWN

• The Catamounts led for the entire overtime period.
• The Spartans got as close as one point three times with the last coming at 65-64 with 1:12 left on a jumper by Lewis.
• Smalls scored the game's final three points for Western Carolina at the free throw line.
• Her final two free throws with one second remaining made the final score 68-64.

UP NEXT

• USC Upstate plays its first home game in nearly a month on Saturday afternoon hosting Bob Jones at 2 p.m.

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