Rock Hill, S.C. – Riley Popplewell joined the 1,000 point club on Saturday as she posted a double-double with 20 points and 17 rebounds to help the Spartans defeat Winthrop 66-59 on the road to close the regular season. Brianna Lewis also dropped a season-high 26 points in the win.

Upstate got off to a slow start as the Eagles opened up with a 9-0 run, but the Spartans quickly got eight points back on a pair of free throws from Popplewell to open the scoring for Upstate followed by back-to-back 3-pointers by Anda Kuzmina and Lewis. Five straight free throws from Winthrop put the Eagles back up by six with 2:06 remaining in the opening frame, and the home team would close the first quarter with an 18-11 lead. The Spartans, however, would outscore the Eagles in the remaining three periods.

Lewis opened the second quarter with a jumper, and Popplewell drew an and-1 less than two minutes in to surpass 1,000 career points in her career and cut Upstate's deficit back down to four. Shelby Glance tied things up with a trey from Lewis with 3:54 left in the first half, and Kuzmina's 3-pointer with exactly two minutes remaining would send the game into the halftime intermission at a 31-31 tie.

Upstate and Winthrop exchanged baskets to open the third frame, but the Spartans never allowed the Eagles to take over the lead in the period. Popplewell put Upstate up by six on a jumper from Glance with 1:39 remaining in the third quarter, and the squad would enter the final frame with a 45-42 lead.

The Eagles broke out with a pair of threes to retake the lead early in the fourth quarter and later pushed their lead to five, but Upstate went on a 12-1 run to take a lead that wouldn't change the rest of the game. That run saw a 3-pointer from Jada Logan before Kuzmina's steal led to a Popplewell layup from Lewis for the lead with 5:45 left in the game. Winthrop went cold on the floor in the final 2:19 as Upstate ran away with the win.
 
Notes
Upstate – Lewis' 26 points led all scorers in the game, and she also had three assists. Entering today's game, Popplewell was three points away from 1,000 and she surpassed that mark in the second quarter. Her 20-point, 17-rebound effort was her 15^th career double-double. Kuzmina had a career-high four steals, and Jada Logan pulled down seven rebounds.

Winthrop – The Eagles were led by Kem Nwabudu's double-double effort with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Anika Riley and Maleeah Langstaff each put up 10 points.

UP next for the Spartans
The Spartans will face Winthrop again in the first round of the 2020 Hercules Tires Big South Women's Basketball Championship on Tuesday, March 10. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. in Rock Hill, S.C.

2020 Hercules Tires Big South Women's Basketball Championship Info

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