ASHEVILLE, N.C. – USC Upstate women's basketball completed the series sweep of UNC Asheville Saturday afternoon with a 61-58 win. Jada Logan posted her second consecutive double-double and Denijsha Wilson put up a game-high 22 points to help the Spartans improve to 7-14 (5-11 BSC) this season.

"I thought we showed tremendous toughness and ability to follow a game plan. They played their tails off and took pride in all of the details defensively for two days," said head coach Becky Burke. "It's extremely difficult to win on the road, let alone get a sweep against a team like UNC Asheville. I am just really happy for our players and that they got to see their hard work pay off."

Molly Coleman grabbed the opening tip-off for the Spartans, and Logan got things going early with a jumper 19 seconds into the game. Wilson retook the lead for Upstate on a pair of free throws to make it 6-5 with 7:10 left in the opening period. The Spartans and Bulldogs went back-and-forth for a bit, but after being squared up at 11 with 2:11 to go in the frame, UNC Asheville hit a pair of baskets to end the first quarter up 15-11.

The Bulldogs pushed their lead to 19-11 with a couple of buckets to open the second quarter, but the Spartans answered with a layup from Coleman and a pair of free throws from Logan to cut their deficit to 19-15 with 6:29 remaining in the period. Later, Logan capped an 8-0 Spartan run with a lead-taking jumper at 1:52 to give Upstate a slight 23-21 advantage. Dakota McCaughan then knocked down a long jumper with 11 seconds left to even things up at 25 going into halftime.

Michaela Gibbons hit a triple from Coleman to give the Spartans a 28-27 lead with 8:11 to go in the third quarter, and Upstate went into the media timeout up 30-27. Wilson doubled the lead with a triple at 5:37 and knocked down a jumper 37 seconds later before taking a steal all the way down for a layup to push Upstate's lead to eight. Coleman capped a 14-2 Upstate run to give the Spartans a 39-29 lead with 2:43 left in the period, but UNC Asheville ended the period on a 10-2 run to cut their deficit to just two points at 41-39 heading into the final frame.

Anda Kuzmina opened the fourth quarter with an and-1 opportunity before extending Upstate's lead to 47-41 on a 3-pointer at 7:52. McCaughan's fifth steal of the game led to another and-1, which put Upstate up 50-46. Wilson countered a Bulldog 3-pointer with a shot clock-beating triple of her own to preserve Upstate's lead heading into the final two minutes of the contest. Gibbons later picked up a key defensive rebound and foul in the last 12 seconds, but UNC Asheville pulled down the board from her second free throw and took it down for a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game with four seconds remaining. McCaughan was able to sink her free throws in the last three seconds, and the Bulldogs missed a last-second 3-point opportunity as Upstate held on for the win.

Notes

• Jada Logan had a strong outing, notching her second consecutive double-double with 10 points and a team-high 11 boards. She also had a team-high four assists on the day.
• Denijsha Wilson paced all scorers in the game with 22 points and was once again perfect from the free throw line.
• Dakota McCaughan had a career-high five steals.
• Barrett Herring made her second appearance of the season with some good minutes, scoring a basket before putting up a block.
• Michaela Gibbons pulled down eight boards alongside seven points and a block.
• The Spartans had a strong night from the charity stripe, shooting 17-of-20 from the line.

UP next for the Spartans
The Spartans have a bye weekend before returning home to face Campbell Feb. 19-20. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday from the Hodge.

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