SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate women's basketball program earned its third consecutive home game of the season after double-digit scoring from Rebekah Gordon (10), Jeni Levine (10), Dakota Reeves (16), and Trinity Johnson (17) help the Spartans achieve a 61-58 finish on Saturday night against Furman University.  

Upstate was dominant in the first quarter against Furman, as the Spartans quickly established a lead as well as fended off the Paladins' offense to retain the lead. Trinity Johnson started strong with four points in the first quarter as did Rebekah Gordon and Jeni Levine. Johnson led the Spartans in assists with two and rebounds with two while Levine led the team in steals with two. As a unit, the Spartans showed more precision than the Paladins, going 7-12 (58.3%) compared to Furman's 4-16 (25.0%) from the field. Upstate's accuracy was on display at the free throw line as well as the Spartans were spotless from the charity stripe while Furman only went 50.0% (3-6).  

The Spartans were able to retain their lead through most of the second quarter, until the Paladins battled to make Upstate trail by four points going into halftime. The first eight minutes of the second quarter saw 14 points for Furman compared to seven for Upstate to make the game 26-25 in favor of the hosting Spartans. With minutes to go before the break, Furman stacked seven points to make the game 32-28 at the completion of the half. Dakota Reeves led the Spartans through the second quarter with three points while Levine, Johnson, and Gracie Barnes tallied two apiece. Gordon, Johnson, and Zora Fray-Chinn all collected two rebounds while Levine was credited with the lone steal of the quarter. At the break, Levine, Reeves, and Johnson all sat with six points.   

Coming out of the break, Upstate was back to business with six points out of the gate while Furman was only able to get two points in the first three minutes of the quarter. The Spartans tied the game at 34 apiece before a three-pointer from Reeves reclaimed the lead. Upstate held the lead until the final 16 seconds of the third quarter despite Furman tying the game 40-40 around the four-minute mark. Despite going into the fourth quarter trailing by one-point, the Spartans outscored the Paladins 17-14 through the third. Reeves once again led Upstate's scoring efforts with five points and received help on offense from Gordon and Johnson who posted four points respectively. Both Gordon and AC Markham were able to collect three rebounds in the third quarter to help Upstate get 10 rebounds to match Furman's.   

Upstate started the final quarter taking the lead just under two minutes in before Furman tied the game 50-50 with just over seven minutes to play. With both teams posting six points over the next four minutes, Upstate and Furman found themselves still tied at 56-56 with just over three minutes remaining. Johnson stepped up in the final minutes scoring one from distance and two from the free throw line to secure the 61-58 win for the Spartans. The fourth quarter saw seven points for Johnson, bringing her game total to 17 while Reeves pitched in five points to finish the game just behind her with 16. Upstate was able to score more points off turnovers (14-10) while also giving up less turnovers (16-13). The Spartans found success in the paint with 24 points compared to the Paladins' 12 as well as scored more second chance points (6-1) and more points off the fast break (9-1).  

 
Game Information 
Score: USC Upstate 61; Furman University 58 
Records: USC Upstate (5-6; 0-0 Big South) vs. Furman University (6-5; 0-0 SoCon) 
Location: G.B. Hodge Center | Spartanburg, S.C.      


How It Happened: 

First Quarter: Upstate 19; Furman 11 

• Upstate established a three-point lead over Furman in the first five minutes of play with points coming from Dakota Reeves and Rebekah Gordon (7-4). 
• The Paladins tied the game at 7-7 before taking a one-point lead with a pair of made free throws but lost the lead quickly as the Spartans responded with seven points to make the game 13-10 going into the last two minutes of the first quarter. 
• The Spartans outscored the Paladins 6-1 in the final minutes of the first quarter to go into the second quarter with an eight-point lead (19-11). 

Second Quarter: Upstate 28; Furman 32 

• Furman outscored Upstate 6-2 to start the second quarter, cutting the Spartans' lead down to four points with over seven minutes until the halftime break (21-17). 
• After trading points for the next four minutes, the Paladins brought the game within one point after posting eight points compared to Upstate's five (26-25). 
• With under two minutes until the break, Furman took the lead with a three-pointer but Upstate was quick to respond with the tying layup from Trinity Johnson (28-28).
• A jumper and two made free throws gave the Paladins a four-point lead at halftime.  

Third Quarter: Upstate 45; Furman 46 

• Following the break, Upstate outscored Furman 6-2 to tie the game 34-34 with just under seven minutes left in the third quarter, before taking the lead with a three pointer from Reeves. 
• The Paladins fought back posting six points compared to the Spartans' three to tie the game 40-40.  
• In the final four minutes of the third quarter Upstate maintained the lead with 45 points until Furman scored a final three-pointer to reclaim the lead going into the final quarter (46-45).  

Fourth Quarter: Upstate 61; Furman 58 

• The Spartans were able to take the lead with a shot from Reeves from distance on the fast break but the Paladins tied the game 50-50 with over seven minutes left to play.  
• The next four minutes of play saw six points for both teams, keeping the Spartans and the Paladins tied 56-56 before a 90 second scoring drought.  
• In the final minute and a half of play, Trinity Johnson collected five points with a shot from the three-point arc and a pair of made free throws to help solidify the 61-58 win for Upstate.     

Notable 

• Rebekah Gordon had her sixth game of the season scoring in double figures while Jeni Levine had her fourth.  
• With 16 points tonight, Dakota Reeves had her third game of the season scoring 15+ points.  
• With 17 points tonight, Trinity Johnson had her second game scoring 15+ points and her fourth game of the season scoring in double figures.  
• This is the second game of the season that Upstate had four players score in double figures.  
• Johnson scored a season-high 17 points against the Paladins while having her ninth game of the season leading the Spartans in assists.
• The Saturday night win over Furman snapped a five-game losing streak against the Paladins with Upstate's last win over Furman being Dec. 21, 2013. 

Up Next for the Spartans  
The Spartans will take a week to focus on finals and will be back in action Monday, Dec. 18th to host UNC Greensboro 11:00 a.m. ET for Education Day.  

   
Support the Spartans  
USC Upstate returns to the G.B. Hodge Center on Monday, December 18  to host Furman at 11:30 a.m. ET. Tickets for all USC Upstate men's and women's basketball games are on sale now with tickets beginning at just $8! To order log into upstatespartans.com/tickets.  
 

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