Spartans Set to Host Western Carolina in Education Day Game

Game Notes

Spartanburg, S.C.— The USC Upstate women's basketball team will be back in action on Tuesday morning as they take on the Western Carolina Catamounts in the annual education day game.

USC Upstate (1-1) is coming off their first loss of the season after falling to East Carolina 69-48 last Friday night. The Spartans offense was led by sophomore forward Kathryn Kirkwood (Milwaukee, Wis.), who came off the bench to score 13 points and grab six rebounds. Brianna Lewis (Chicago, Ill.) finished second on the team in points recording eight points.

The Spartans currently rank first in the Big South in rebounds, averaging 48.5 boards per game and have a season total of 97 rebounds. The Spartans have now outrebounded their opponents by an average of 7.0 boards per game.

Starting center Quadijah Moore (Greenwood, S.C.) has quickly contributed to the Spartans rebounding success by recording eight or more rebounds in two consecutive games. Moore is now leading the Big South Conference in rebounding with 19 total boards. Riley Popplewell (Union Mills, Ind.) hauled in her 266th offensive rebound Friday night, which puts her in the top-five for most offensive rebounds in school history.

USC Upstate and Western Carolina (1-2) are meeting for the 14th time in program history. The Catamounts lead the all-time series 8-5 with the most recent matchup ending with a win for the Catamounts. In the last five meetings neither team has been able to win back-to-back games and each side has held serve on their home court.

The Catamounts are coming off of a 68-24 loss by Elon on Saturday night. The Spartans will have to look out for the Catamounts top performers Jewels Smalls, who averages a double-double this season with 13.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. Judith Martin Ruiz is second on the team in scoring with 8.7 points per game and five rebounds per game.

Tuesday's game between USC Upstate and Western Carolina will tipoff at 11 a.m. at the G.B. Hodge and will coincide with our education day game where there will be over 700 kids from local schools in attendance. Live video and stat links can all be found on upstatespartans.com. Tickets for the contest start at $8.00 for adults or $5.00 for youth (ages 3-17).

To purchase tickets, for Upstate Spartans basketball, shop online at upstatespartans.com or call, 864-503-7190. Follow Upstate women's basketball on Facebook (UpstateAthletics), Twitter (@UpstateWB), Instagram (@upstatespartans) and YouTube (USCUpstateAthletics).

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Players Mentioned

Brianna Lewis

Quadijah Moore

Riley Popplewell

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