SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Sophomore center Barrett Herring recorded a career-high 13 rebounds and her first career double-double while two other Spartans scored in double figures, but it wasn't quite enough as the USC Upstate women's basketball team fell to Longwood University 70-62 Saturday afternoon inside the G.B. Hodge Center.

Longwood (8-6, 4-1 BSC) got a quick basket off the tip before taking an early 4-0 lead in the contest, but USC Upstate (6-9, 1-5 BSC) countered with a pair of back-to-back 3-pointers from Jada Logan and Michaela Gibbons. Moments later, Logan snuck a pass through a Longwood defender's legs to set Herring up for a layup that gave the Spartans an 8-4 lead with 6:31 remaining in the opening period. The Lancers tied things back up at eight-all heading into the first media timeout, and the squads exchanged free throws to later remain tied. Herring's jumper with three minutes left in the quarter put the Spartans back up 14-12, but Longwood's Tra'Dayja Smith sniped a buzzer-beating three to send the Lancers into the second frame with a 15-14 advantage.

Longwood continued their scoring run into the second quarter and forced a USC Upstate timeout after opening the period with five straight points. Logan closed out Longwood's 12-0 run with a layup to make the score 25-16. A couple minutes later, Gibbons pushed a steal down the court and was set up for a 3-pointer to cut USC Upstate's deficit to seven points. The Spartans went into the halftime intermission down 36-25.

Gibbons led the Spartans in scoring after the first half with seven points off of a pair of threes and a free throw. USC Upstate outrebounded Longwood 22-14 in the half, led by Logan's six. The Spartans picked up eight fouls and the Lancers nine before heading into the intermission.

Riley Popplewell knocked down 12 free throws in the third quarter to slowly chip away at Longwood's lead and drop USC Upstate's deficit down to single digits entering the fourth quarter. The Spartans outscored the Lancers 22-19 in the period.

Longwood pushed their lead back up to 10 points to open the final frame, but Herring answered with a reverse layup before later drawing an and-one in which she sunk her free throw to cut USC Upstate's deficit back down to seven at 59-52. Quadijah Moore sparked a quick 6-0 run for the Spartans with a tip-in layup to make it 61-54 with just over five minutes left. The run was capped by a jumper from Anda Kuzmina that forced a Longwood timeout with 3:33 remaining in the game. At 61-58, Kuzmina's basket would be as close as the Spartans would get to overcoming a 16-point deficit from the third quarter. The Spartans continued to stay in the game as time ticked down, but would commit a fatal turnover in the last half minute of the contest to fall 70-62.
 
Notes
Upstate – Popplewell was a perfect 15-of-15 from the charity stripe to set a career-high free throws made in a game and notch a season-high 17 points which led the Spartans in scoring on the day. Herring was close behind with 16 points and a career-high and team-high 13 rebounds to collect her first career double-double. Moore also scored in double-figures with 10 points.

Longwood – Longwood's entire starting five scored in double-figures on the day. Kyla McMakin led with 16 points while Tra'dayja Smith (14), Dayna Rouse (12), Anne-Hamilton Leroy (11), and Akila Smith (10) also hit doubles.

UP next for the Spartans
The Spartans next game will be at Hampton on Tuesday, January 14, 2020. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.

Tickets
Start at $8.00 (adults), $5.00 (ages 3-17); 864-503-7190 and upstatespartans.com/tickets.

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