Hampton, Va. – Denijsha Wilson posted a career-high 27 points and Molly Coleman notched her second double-double of the year Friday night, but it was not enough as USC Upstate women's basketball fell 86-77 to Hampton on the road in game one of the two-game series. Upstate falls to 3-11 (1-8 BSC) on the year while Hampton improves to 2-5 (2-3 BSC).

Hampton came out strong on an 8-0 run to open the contest, but Upstate was able to immediately answer with a 7-0 run to quickly pull within one point of the Pirates and force a Hampton timeout at 6:46. McKinley Brooks-Sumpter evened things up at 13 with a fade away jumper at 3:37 before a pair of free throws from Coleman gave the Spartans their first lead of the game just a few seconds later. Brooks-Sumpter hit a jumper with five seconds remaining in the opening frame to give Upstate a 17-16 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.

Hampton lit up the floor beyond the arc in the second period, connecting on six triples in the frame. The Pirates went on an 11-0 run to take a 39-24 lead midway through the quarter. Brooks-Sumpter ended Upstate's scoring drought and capped Hampton's run with a pull-up jumper before Anda Kuzmina cut Upstate's deficit to 10 points on a triple with 2:55 remaining. The Spartans trailed 44-33 going into halftime.

Kuzmina opened the second half with another 3-pointer in the first 12 seconds of the third quarter to cut Upstate's deficit back down to single digits. Six straight Hampton free throws contributed to an 8-0 Pirate run which was capped by back-to-back Spartan triples to make it 52-42 with 6:39 left in the period. The Spartans continued to chip away at Hampton's lead, closing the third frame on a 12-1 run capped by a steal and buzzer-beating layup from Brooks-Sumpter to head into the final period down just 64-62.

Coleman opened the final frame with a layup in the first nine seconds to tie things up at 64-all. However, she struggled from the charity stripe in the period and Hampton was able to push their lead back out to 73-66. With 3:20 remaining in the contest, Kuzmina kicked it out to Wilson for a triple to make it a 73-69 ballgame, and Brooks-Sumpter pulled Upstate within two points less than a minute later. The difference down the stretch proved to be a four-point play by Hampton's Tia Montagne as she was fouled on a good 3-point shot and made the free throw to put the Pirates up 77-71. Hampton then began to pull away for the win.

Notes

• The Spartans shot 52.9 percent from the floor, but struggled from the charity stripe, shooting 14-of-26 on free throws.
• Upstate outrebounded Hampton 36-31 in the game.
• Denijsha Wilson paced all scorers in the game with a career-high 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field. She was 4-for-5 from beyond the arc, also a career-high. Wilson also contributed four assists.
• Molly Coleman notched her second double-double of the year with 13 points and a tied career-high 10 rebounds. She also put up a career-high three blocks.
• McKinley Brooks-Sumpter scored in double-figures with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field.
• Kuzmina put up a season-high nine points with a season-high three triples.
• Jada Logan tied her season-high in points and rebounds with seven in each category.

UP next for the Spartans
Upstate will look to bounce back against Hampton in game two of the back-to-back tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 16, at 3 p.m.

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