SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Returning to action for some post-holiday hoops, USC Upstate women's basketball demonstrated its poise and resolve as it opened the Spartan Shootout Thanksgiving MTE with a battle against Morehead State. The Spartans and Eagles took the game down to the wire, seeing the game decided in the final 10 seconds as Morehead State captured a 66-64 victory Friday afternoon.
 
Propelling Upstate in the tightly contested game, a pair of Spartans offered career-high scoring totals with sophomore guard Gracie Barnes pouring in a career-best 15 markers and redshirt freshman guard Lele Tanuvasa adding a career-high 10 points. Barnes fashioned her scoring number behind a 7-of-13 shooting performance, burying her lone triple—a three-pointer to pull Upstate within a possession with 24 seconds remaining—while Tanuvasa crafted her total behind a 4-of-9 performance from the floor.
 
Closing a trio of double-figure scorers, redshirt freshman guard Cassie Gallagher tallied 12 points, one shy of her career-high, for her team-leading fifth double-figure scoring game. Pacing the Spartans' offense, junior guard Jeni Levine dished out a career-best seven assists, putting forth a career-high assist total against Morehead State (six on Dec. 12, 2022) for the second time in her career. On the glass, senior forward AC Markham corralled a season-high 10 rebounds.
 
Game Information
Score: Morehead State 66; USC Upstate 64
Records: USC Upstate (2-6; 0-0 Big South); Morehead State (2-4; 0-0 OVC)
Location: G.B. Hodge Center | Spartanburg, S.C.
 
How It Happened
First Quarter

• Taking the opening tap, USC Upstate opened the game's scoring as Gracie Barnes knocked down a pull-up jumper from the baseline, setting up her run of four straight points to open the contest for Upstate. Following Barnes' two field goals, Morehead State's Kate Novik hit consecutive layups to retake the lead.
• Offering their longest scoring run of the afternoon, the Spartans bookended a pair of 2-for-2 trips to the charity stripe with layups from Lele Tanuvasa and Barnes. Four different Spartans scored in the scoring run. The Eagles countered the scoring run with two of the final three made field goals to close the quarter, trimming the Spartan lead to five at the quarter break.

 
Second Quarter

• Tacking on to its lead, building the advantage to its largest of the day at nine points, Cassie Gallagher and Barnes dropped in layups, delivering a 21-12 advantage two minutes into the quarter. The Eagles countered with a 7-0 scoring run to cut into the deficit before ultimately pushing its scoring stretch 14-2, retaking the lead and a three-point advantage with 1:50 remaining in the half—the Eagles' largest lead of the half.
• Erasing the Eagles' lead as the half dwindled, Upstate scored four of the final five points into the locker room, creating the 27-27 deadlock at the break. Gallagher and Emma Blair sandwiched an Eagle free throw with field goals to close the half.

 
Third Quarter

• Out of the halftime break, Upstate exited the locker room with a 6-0 run, taking back the lead. Spanning halftime, the Spartans' run pushes to eight, its second 8-0 scoring run of the day. Adding to their 6-0 scoring stretch to begin the third stanza, the Spartans expanded their stretch to 11-2.
• Countering the Spartans' 11-2 scoring stretch, Morehead State offered its longest scoring run of the day with an 11-0 run into the third quarter media stoppage, ultimately, seeing the stretch build to 13-1. Upstate followed the lengthy Eagle scoring stretch with a 7-0 scoring run of its own to regain the advantage.

 
Fourth Quarter

• Setting up a quarter that saw five lead changes, Morehead State created the frame's first lead change with the opening field goal of the quarter. Tanuvasa put the lead back in the Spartans' favor with consecutive field goals before the two sides traded the advantage twice more ahead of the final two minutes of regulation.
• Fashioning their largest lead of the afternoon, the Eagles strung together a 7-0 scoring run to stake a six-point advantage with 58 seconds to play. After each team knocked down a pair of free throws, the lead remained at six with 34 seconds remaining before Upstate hit successive three-pointers to tie the game with 11 seconds left. A driving layup from Novik with five seconds on the clock lifted Morehead Stat to the two-point win.

 
Notable

• For the second time in two career games against Morehead State, Jeni Levine passed out a career-high assist total with seven assists Friday. Her seven-assist game versus the Eagles marked her fifth instance recording five or more apples in a game.

 
Up Next for the Spartans
Closing the Spartan Shootout Thanksgiving MTE, USC Upstate faces Bellarmine for the first meeting between the Spartans and Knights in the program's Division I era (2007-pres.). Tip-off in the event's final game is set for 3 p.m. ET.
 
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