SPARTANBURG, S.C. – USC Upstate women's basketball dropped the series to Presbyterian as the Spartans fell 66-53 in game two of the back-to-back matchup Sunday afternoon at the Hodge.

The Spartans struggled offensively to start the contest, missing their first five field goals in the opening five minutes of the game. Meanwhile, Presbyterian opened up on a 6-0 run that forced the Spartans into a hole they had to dig out of early on. Marnicha Prudent finally got the Spartans on the board on a driving layup with 4:18 remaining in the game. Upstate trailed 11-6 after the first 10 minutes of play.

After Lillian Flantos made the last basket of the first period, the Spartans gained some momentum and energy to continue on a run to open the second frame. A jumper from Flantos at 8:40 gave Upstate its first lead of the game, and the 10-0 Spartan run was capped by a basket from Jada Logan for a 14-11 Upstate lead with 8:04 to go in the second quarter. However, PC turned on the full court press and responded with a 6-0 run to regain the lead. A buzzer-beating step-back jumper from Dakota McCaughan cut Upstate's deficit to just three points going into halftime, 26-23.

Upstate attempted to ride the momentum into the second half, and McCaughan evened things up at 30-30 on a 3-pointer at 7:36, but PC hit three straight triples to take a quick 9-point lead. Meanwhile, Upstate entered scoring drought as the Blue Hose continued on a run that pushed their lead to 48-32. The Spartans came back within nine points in the final minute, but PC closed the frame with yet another triple for a 51-39 lead.

The Spartans had quality touches in the fourth period and attempted to close the gap as they cut their deficit to seven points midway through the frame, but that is as close as they could get as PC never let up in the final period.

"Our defense was solid at times, but we gave up a lot of offensive rebounds. We're playing this zone to protect our basket. Unfortunately, we didn't do a good job of it," assistant coach Drew Landers said. "The momentum of the game kept going back to [PC]. At the end of the day, we put [PC] on the free throw line, and they scored too many baskets in the paint."

Notes

• The Spartans had four blocks as a team, a pair from both Anda Kuzmina and Molly Coleman.
• Upstate committed just 12 turnovers today compared to 27 yesterday.
• Dakota McCaughan led the team with 13 points on the day beside five assists and a steal.
• Molly Coleman was just shy of a double-double with nine points and a team-high nine rebounds.
• Jada Logan tied her season-high of seven rebounds while setting a season-high of five assists.

UP next for the Spartans
The Spartans head back out on the road next weekend for a two-game series at Hampton. Game one against the Pirates tips at 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 15 with game two set for 5 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 16.

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