SPARTANBURG, S.C. – It was another offensive struggle for USC Upstate women's basketball Saturday evening as the Spartans fell 54-45 to Radford at the G.B. Hodge Center. Not a single Spartan scored in double-figures and as a team, Upstate shot 29 percent from the field compared to Radford's 44 percent.

"I feel similarly to how I felt yesterday, but I think we had more of an effort problem today. We still struggled offensively even though we scored more points than yesterday. I still think if you hold a team like Radford to 54 points, you have to give yourself a chance to win," said head coach Becky Burke. "I thought we did well at times and I was proud of them at times, but in the Big South, 'at times' is not going to get it done. You've got to come for 40 minutes and be really focused."

Anda Kuzmina got Upstate on the board at 8:08 to even things up at 2-2. Michaela Gibbons later pulled Upstate with two points of the Highlanders on a triple from Jada Logan to make it a 7-5 game with 3:45 to go in the opening quarter. Upstate's offensive woes continued from last night, however, as the Spartans shot 2-of-12 from the field in the first period and ended the frame down 13-5.

The Spartans seemed to be getting things going at the start of the second period as back-to-back layups from Molly Coleman cut Upstate's deficit to 15-11 with 7:45 remaining in the quarter. Upstate then, however, entered a scoring drought spanning 3:41 in which Radford was able to push its lead out to 21-11. Dakota McCaughan ended that drought with a jumper at 4:04 and closed the period with a last-second triple to send Upstate into halftime down 32-20.

Gibbons and Denijsha Wilson accounted for all of Upstate's points in the third quarter, including a pair of triples from Wilson midway through the frame. Gibbons hit a jumper from McCaughan with 2:28 left in the period and the Spartans trailed 44-30 heading into the final period.

The fourth period opened up in back-and-forth fashion, and the Spartans ended up outscoring the Highlanders 15-10 in the quarter after ending the game on a 10-2 run.

Notes

• No Spartans scored in double-figures in the game, but Molly Coleman, Denijsha Wilson, and Dakota McCaughan led the way with eight points each.
• McCaughan made her first appearance for the Spartans since Jan. 15 and had five assists, a steal, and four rebounds.
• Coleman pulled down a game-high eight rebounds and tied her career-high three blocks for the second straight game.
• The Spartans only committed 13 turnovers in the game while forcing 16 from the Highlanders.
• Upstate only went to the charity stripe six times in the game, all in the fourth quarter.

UP next for the Spartans
The Spartans travel to UNC Asheville for their last road series of the regular season Feb. 5-6. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. on Friday and Saturday against the Bulldogs.

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