SPARTANBURG, S.C. – USC Upstate women's basketball fell 60-50 on home court to Presbyterian Saturday evening in game one of the two-game series against the Blue Hose.

Denijsha Wilson hit a deep three at 8:20 in the first to open the scoring in the game and get Upstate out to an early lead. However, the Spartans were plagued by five turnovers in the first four minutes of the contest and the Blue Hose were able to gain a lead midway through the period. Back-to-back buckets from Jada Logan gave Upstate the lead again, 7-5, with 5:08 left in the opening frame. Despite a low-scoring first quarter, McKinley Brooks-Sumpter's late jumper managed to give the Spartans a two-point lead to finish the quarter.

The Spartans struggled defensively in the first moments of the second quarter allowing some easy points from the Blue Hose, but Upstate answered with a layup by Lillian Flantos. An Anda Kuzmina triple at 4:49 gave Upstate the 18-17 lead, and Kuzmina later took a charge to help the Spartans keep their lead going into halftime. Upstate held a slight 19-17 edge at the break.

Wilson started the Spartans off with a 3-pointer from Kuzmina for the 22-19 lead in the first minute of the third quarter, and Logan soon after pushed Upstate's lead to five points, the largest lead so far in what was a back-and-forth game up to that point. PC took the lead with 5:59 left in the third, and although Molly Coleman got a bucket back 19 seconds later, a PC free throw returned the lead to the Blue Hose who would end up controlling the lead for the rest of the game.

PC free throws proved to be the difference maker in the game as the Blue Hose shot 19-of-24 from the charity stripe on the day, including a perfect 10-of-10 in the fourth frame. Upstate kept fighting though as Kuzmina hit her second triple of the night with 35 seconds left in the final period and Maya Timberlake made a layup in the last 19 seconds, but it wasn't enough.

Notes

• Upstate shot 19-of-45 from the field with four 3-pointers in the game versus Presbyterian's 19-of-57 shooting and three 3-pointers, but the Blue Hose made 19 free throws compared to Upstate's eight.
• Molly Coleman and Denijsha Wilson led the Spartans in scoring on the day with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
• McKinley Brooks-Sumpter pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
• Marnicha Prudent led the Upstate bench in scoring with six points.
• Anda Kuzmina tied her season-high four assists and had eight points.

UP next for the Spartans
The Spartans will look to split the series with Presbyterian as they play game two of the back-to-back series tomorrow, Jan. 10, at 2:00 p.m. at the Hodge.

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