SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Driving to the basket while trailing by two at 68-66 with 15 seconds remaining on the game clock, USC Upstate women's basketball's Rachael Rose earned and completed the traditional three-point play to put Upstate ahead one over Gardner-Webb into the latter seconds of the game.
 
Withstanding a flurry of offensive chances following the advancement of the ball by the Runnin' Bulldogs, freshman guard Terah Harness found a piece of the first shot attempt, and freshman guard Rose secured the biggest rebound of the game, drawing a foul to give the Spartans a chance to ice the game. Stepping to the line for a pair of free throws, Rose knocked down both attempts to secure her fourth and fifth points in the game's final 15 seconds to secure the Upstate victory, 71-68.
 
Tallying five points in the final 15 seconds, Rose cemented her career-high scoring total—26 points—in the most opportune of moments in leading the Spartans victory over rival Gardner-Webb. Splashing six threes, including four in the fourth quarter, Harness tied her career-high with 18 points, teaming with Rose to erase the fourth quarter deficit facing Upstate.
 
Game Information
Score: USC Upstate 71; Gardner-Webb 68
Records: USC Upstate (12-5; 4-2 Big South); Gardner-Webb (7-12; 5-3 Big South)
Location: G.B. Hodge Center | Spartanburg, S.C.
 
How It Happened
First Quarter

• Over the first seven-plus minutes of the quarter, Upstate and Gardner-Webb traded jabs with one another, going shot-for-shot and seeing a game tied at eight with 2:55 remaining in the period. Scoring the first six points for the Spartans, Terah Harness began heating up from three, draining her first two triples of the game.
• Creating the first multiple-basket scoring run of the game, Rachael Rose and Chellia Watson went back-to-back with a driving layup and floater to extend Upstate's advantage to four. The Runnin' Bulldogs, however, countered with a jumper and three to take a one-point lead into the quarter's final minute.
• Closing the quarter, Rose and Watson again teamed up once again for a second 4-0 scoring run. Sinking the final basket of the quarter, Watson put her defender on skates before beating the quarter buzzer with a floating jump shot for a three-point Spartan advantage.

Second Quarter

• Building on the momentum from Watson's first-quarter buzzer-beater, Upstate opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run, pushing its overall scoring run to 10. Molly Coleman started the scoring with a layup before Rose added four straight Upstate points.
• Extending its advantage to a game-high 11, Upstate added to its scoring stretch to 17-5 spanning the quarter break, pushing the lead to 29-18 with 3:49 to play in the quarter. Jada Logan posted a mini 4-0 run following the 10-0 run before Rose hit the three that sent the lead to 11.
• Erasing Upstate's 11-point lead, Gardner-Webb closed the half on a 13-5 scoring run to trim the Spartan advantage to three. The Runnin' Bulldogs scored the final five points of the half, including a three at the buzzer, heading into the locker room.

Third Quarter

• Cutting the Spartan lead to one, Gardner-Webb continued its scoring run, pushing it to 7-0 overall across the final minute of the first half and the first minute of the second half. Fighting back from a four-point deficit following a Logan and-1 conversion, the Runnin' Bulldogs tied the game a 37 with 7:14 remaining in the quarter.
• Building back its advantage, Upstate used a 6-0 scoring run to regain the lead. Logan converted her second consecutive tradition three-point play for the Spartans to start the run before Rose drained a three to complete the scoring stretch.
• Taking the lead for the first time since late in the first quarter, Gardner-Webb embarked on its longest scoring run of the game, 8-0, to take a two-point advantage with 2:22 to play in the quarter. Following a Coleman layup to tie things at 45, the Runnin' Bulldogs scored the final five points of the quarter, outscoring Upstate 13-2 over the stretch.

Fourth Quarter

• Extending its scoring stretch to 15-2, Gardner-Webb took its largest lead of the game following the opening basket of the fourth quarter.
• Beginning to chip away at the Runnin' Bulldog lead, Upstate used a 9-2 scoring run to tied the game at 54 with 6:25 to play. Harness bookended the scoring stretch with two of her four fourth-quarter daggers from beyond the arc.
• Leaning back into a game that saw both teams going blow-for-blow with one another, Gardner-Webb stayed one step ahead of Upstate before Rose took matters into her own hands with under a minute to play. She tied the game at 66 with free throws with 42 seconds remaining before converting an and-1 with 12 seconds remaining to give the Spartans their final lead and icing the game with two additional free throws with three seconds remaining.

 
Notable

• For the fifth time in six Big South Conference games, Upstate finished with a 20-plus point scorer as Rachael Rose delivered a career-high 26 points to lift the Spartans over Gardner-Webb 71-68 Tuesday night. She joins Jada Logan (CH 26 points vs. UNC Asheville) and Chellia Watson (three times) in scoring 20-plus points in a league game.
• Joining Rose with a career-high scoring total, Terah Harness tallied a career-high-tying 18 points behind the strength of a career-high six made three-pointers. The total marks the second time in three games she's scored 18 points, also doing so against Longwood last Wednesday.
• Collecting eight blocks, including a career-high-tying three from Molly Coleman, Tuesday night against Gardner-Webb, Upstate posted its most blocks in a game since Feb. 22, 2020, when the Spartans turned away eight UNC Asheville shot attempts.
• Seeing multiple double-figure scorers Tuesday night, the Spartans extended their streak of games with multiple double-figure scorers to 21 games, including each of the team's 17 games this season.

 
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