Saturday's matchUP
January 18, 2:00 pm

USC Upstate (6-10, 1-6 Big South) VS Gardner-Webb University (7-8, 2-4 Big South)
Boiling Springs, N.C.

Game Notes

TV: ESPN+ (available online and on the ESPN app)

Series History
This is the seventh overall meeting between USC Upstate and Gardner-Webb with the Bulldogs leading the series 6-0. The last meeting between the two teams ended in a 75-67 victory for the Bulldogs in Spartanburg on March 9, 2019. Three Spartans reached double-figures in the game as Brianna Lewis and Riley Popplewell each posted 15 points and DeNisha Swain contributed 12 points in the loss. Lewis and Popplewell also tied for the team lead in rebounds with six, and Lewis led the team in assists with seven on the night. Gardner-Webb had four players end the contest in double digits as Ky'Asia Stanford led all scorers with 18 points, Carley Plentovich finished with 15, Neydja Petithomme added 11, and Savannah Plentovich ended with 10.

The Bulldogs took last year's first meeting with the Spartans by a margin of 92-72 at Gardner-Webb. Swain led the Spartans in scoring with 23 points in the contest while Lewis had a quality game with 21 points, seven assists and four steals. Popplewell hit double-digits with 10 points and led the Spartans with eight boards. Gardner-Webb's Carley Plentovich set new career-highs in points (36) and rebounds (13) on the night.

Last time out
UPSTATE – The Spartans dropped their sixth straight contest Tuesday night in a 60-40 loss to Hampton. Herring led the Spartans across the stat line with 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and a tied career-high four blocks. She was 6-of-6 from the charity stripe for a career-high free throws made in a game, which makes four consecutive games where she has either tied or bested a career-high. As a team, USC Upstate was perfect from the free throw line as Logan was 2-of-2 from the line. Popplewell posted eight points and six rebounds, and the Spartans outrebounded the Pirates 40-35.

Gardner-Webb – The Runnin' Bulldogs enter Saturday's contest on a two-game losing streak after dropping a 56-53 decision to Presbyterian this past Tuesday. Savannah Plentovich led the Bulldogs with 11 points and five assists and Carley Plentovich added nine points. GiGi Caponegro added eight points and seven boards.

Ones to watch
UPSTATE – Quadijah Moore is averaging 8.2 points a game. Popplewell is USC Upstate's leading rebounder and ranks third in rebounds per game for the Big South with 7.1. Herring ranks third in the conference with 23 total blocks and 1.8 per game.

Gardner-Webb – Carley and Savannah Plentovich are Gardner-Webb's leading scorers, averaging 15.3 and 11.3 points respectively. Carley ranks third in Big South scoring and first in free throw percentage (.845) with Savannah ranking second in free throw percentage at .813.

Coaching Connection
USC Upstate assistant coach Catrina Green is making her first return to Gardner-Webb as a coach after playing for the Bulldogs from 2011-2014. In her time at Gardner-Webb, Green was one of nine players to surpass the career 1,000-point mark, ranking third all-time with 1,241 points. She is also one of only eight student-athletes to haul in over 500 career rebounds and is the only player to snag over 1,000 with 1,012 in her four-year career.

UP next for the Spartans
The Spartans return home Tuesday, January 21 to face off against Radford at 6:00 p.m.

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

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