Women's Basketball Wraps Up Three-Game Road Stand With Loss to Kentucky on Saturday Night

Saturday, November 11

Lexington, KY

6:00 P.M.

University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics

0-3,0-0Big South

University of Kentucky

2-0,0-0SEC

Team	1	2	3	4	F
USC Upstate	12	7	21	14	54
Kentucky	25	20	21	16	82

11/11/2023 10:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

LEXINGTON, KY. – USC Upstate women's basketball program capped its three-game road stand to start the 2023-24 season with an 82-54 loss to the Wildcats of Kentucky in Lexington, Ky. on Saturday night.

The Spartans found themselves defending from the jump as the Wildcats took an early six-point lead before Rebekah Gordon made a layup to get USC Upstate its first points of the game. Points from Trinity Johnson, Dakota Reeves, Jeni Levine, and Isabell West helped Upstate cut the University of Kentucky's lead down to four points before the Wildcats went on a nine-point run to make the game 25-12 in favor of the hosts at the end of the first quarter.

Upstate continued to chip away at the Wildcats' lead as Zora Fray-Chinn and Dakota Reeves were able to score early in the second quarter, bringing Kentucky's lead back within single digits. Three free throws from the Wildcats' made the game 28-17, just before Gracie Barnes' jumper brought Kentucky's lead back to nine-points. Kentucky went on a 15-point run to make the game 45-19 before halftime.

Despite Kentucky scoring first coming out of the break, the Spartans went on a seven-point scoring run with points coming from Gordon and Reeves. Upstate was able to find a groove in the third quarter as the Spartans scored a game high 21 points, scoring 60% from the field, 50% from the charity stripe, and 100% from distance. Gordon racked up 11 points in the third quarter while Reeves added six to her total for the night. Trinity Johnson was able to record five assists in the third quarter alone, bringing her game total to eight with one quarter remaining to play.

Gordon started the final quarter with back-to-back jump shots to bring the game within 23 points. Both the Spartans and the Wildcats continued to trade points with Johnson, Reeves, and Mae Afoa posting points for Upstate. At the final whistle, the Spartans fell 82-54 to the Wildcats, but finished the game with a season-high in points scored (54), field goals made (22), three-point field goals made (7), assists (15), and blocked shots (3).

Game Information
Score: USC Upstate 54; Kentucky 82
Records: USC Upstate (0-3; 0-0 Big South); Kentucky (2-0; 0-0 SEC)
Location: Rupp Arena | Lexington, KY.

How It Happened:

First Quarter: Upstate 12; Kentucky 25

The Wildcats scored six unanswered points until Gordon scored one in the paint.
The next five minutes saw 10 points for both the visiting Spartans and the hosting Wildcats.
In the final two minutes of the first quarter, Kentucky went on a nine-point run to finish the quarter leading 25-12.

Second Quarter: Upstate 7; Kentucky 20

Upstate started the second quarter with three points from Reeves and a jumper from Fray-Chinn but the Wildcats responded with three made free throws.
Barnes made a jumper in the fifth minute to cap Upstate's scoring in the second quarter.
Kentucky scored 15-points in the remaining six minutes of the half.

Third Quarter: Upstate 21; Kentucky 21

The first four minutes coming out of the break, the Spartans tallied 11 points compared to the Wildcats' six.
Kentucky made a pair of free throws to bring its lead up to 24 points just before Reeves suck a three-pointer to keep Upstate's momentum going.
The Wildcats went on a six-point run to extend their lead to 29 points.
The final four minutes saw seven points for Upstate and six points for Kentucky.

Fourth Quarter: Upstate 14; Kentucky 16

Gordon continued her scoring in the final quarter with a layup and a jumper to keep the Spartans offense going.
Upstate had a solid first five minutes of the final quarter scoring 12 points compared to the 10 points Kentucky posted.
The Wildcats were able to score another eight points while Afoa scored the final points for the Spartans.

Notable

This was the first ever meeting between the USC Upstate Spartans and the Wildcats of Kentucky.
This was the first game this season two Spartans scored double-digit points (Gordon & Reeves)
Reeves posted a season-high 18 points, while Gordon also posted a season-high 17 points.
Johnson had a game-high nine assists against the Wildcats.
Markham tied her season-high for rebounds (5), while Jeni Levine (3) set a season-high.

Up Next For the Spartans

Upstate returns home to host Lees-McRae on November 14th at 7:00 p.m. in the G.B. Hodge Center.

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