ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The USC Upstate women's basketball program collected its ninth Big South win of the season after a 71-65 comeback win over I-26 Rival UNC Asheville on Saturday afternoon. 

Upstate found itself trailing early on after the UNC Asheville Bulldogs went on a 10-point run to begin the game. The Spartans were led by AC Markham through the first quarter with five points. Zora Fray-Chinn was able to record one from a distance as well while Rebekah Gordon and Isabell West found success in the paint. Dakota Reeves led the team in rebounds with three.  

The Spartans began to find their rhythm in the second quarter and made it a two-point game going into halftime. After going 33.3% from the field in the first quarter, Upstate posted an impressive 60.0% field goal percentage and outscored UNC Asheville 19-13. After playing the full second quarter, Reeves scored another eight points while Johnson scored another six. As a team, Upstate not only shot 60.0% from the field but also 60.0% from the three-point arc and 80.0% from the free throw line to make the game close.  

Upstate lost no momentum during the halftime break as the Spartans outscored the Bulldogs 22-17 in the third quarter to take the lead for the first time that game. The Spartans' accuracy remained to be a threat to the Bulldogs defense as they posted a 69.2% field goal percentage as well as an 80.0% three-point percentage. Fray-Chinn led the team through the third quarter with six points while Johnson and Gordon were just behind her with four apiece. As a unit, Upstate had more points in the paint (10-4), more points off turnovers (7-5), more second chance points (2-0), and more points from the bench (8-3). 

In the final quarter, the Spartans yet again showed more accuracy than Bulldogs, going 44.4% from the field compared to UNC Asheville's 33.3%. Despite the game being tied two times and four lead exchanges between Upstate and UNC Asheville, the Spartans were able to walk away with a 71-65 win after posting another 18 points compared to the Bulldogs' 15. Johnson scored 10 points alone in the final quarter to reach her 20 point total. Jeni Levine also contributed five points to Upstate's 18 points in the fourth quarter. Upstate's success in the final quarter was found partly in form of 10 points off turnovers and six points on the fast break. 

 
Game Information 
Score: USC Upstate 71; UNC Asheville 65 
Records: USC Upstate (14-10; 9-2 Big South) vs. UNC Asheville (9-15; 3-8 Big South)  
Location: Kimmel Arena | Asheville, N.C.      

How It Happened: 

First Quarter: Upstate 12: UNC Asheville 20 

• Upstate began the game trailing as UNC Asheville had a 10-point scoring run to establish an early lead (10-0). 

• The Spartans got on the board with around six minutes to go int he first quarter and outscored the Bulldogs 4-2 going into a timeout (12-4). 

• Following the timeout the Spartans cut the Bulldogs' lead to five (16-9). 

• UNC Asheville outscored Upstate by one point in the final two minutes to make the game 20-12 in favor of the hosting Bulldogs going into the second quarter. 

Second Quarter: Upstate 31; UNC Asheville 33 

• The Bulldogs extended their lead to 10 points after the first two minutes of the second quarter (25-15).  

• Over the next three minutes, Upstate was able to outscore UNC Asheville 9-4 to bring the game back within six points (29-23). 

• In the final four minutes, Upstate was able to rally back and post 10 points compared to Asheville's four to bring the game within two points at halftime (33-31).  

Third Quarter: Upstate 53; UNC Asheville 50 

• Upstate began the third quarter with five points to take the lead (36-33). 

• The Spartans established a six-point lead going into the media timeout (41-35).  

• Following the media timeout, Asheville scored another four points before a near two scoreless minutes would commence for both teams.  

• The final two and a half minutes saw 12 points for the Spartans and 10 points for the Bulldogs, giving Upstate a three-point lead going into the final quarter.  

Fourth Quarter: Upstate 71; UNC Asheville 65 

• The Bulldogs battled back and took the lead in the first three and a half minutes of the fourth quarter while the Spartans added another three points (57-56). 

• Over the next four minutes the game was tied once and there was two lead changes as both the Spartans and the Bulldogs scored six points (63-62). 

• In the final two minutes Upstate took the lead, scoring eight points and holding UNC Asheville to only two points for the remainder of the game for the win (71-65). 

Notable 

• Trinity Johnson led the team in scoring with a season-high 20 points. This was Johnson's first 20+ game of the season, but her 10th game of the season scoring in double figures.  

• Johnson led the team in assists with five, which is the 19th game she has led the team in assists.  

• Johnson also made a season-high 10 free throws (10-13). 

• Dakota Reeves had her eighth game of the season scoring in double figures with the 11 she scored against UNC Asheville. 

• AC Markham had her fourth game of the season scoring in double figures with 10 points against the Bulldogs.  

• The Spartans made a season-high nine three-pointers and had a season-high 31 free throw attempts.  

Up Next for the Spartans  
Upstate will return home to start the week hosting the Panthers of High Point Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. and finish the week playing game one of an Upstate basketball double header against Gardner-Webb as part of Upstate's 2024 Homecoming.  

USC Upstate sponsoring I-26 Rivalry Canned Food Drive presented by Ingles  

Help the Spartans score three bonus points in the yearlong rivalry series against UNC Asheville, the Ingles I-26 Rivalry, by donating canned and non-perishable food items when you attend home events through Saturday, February 10!  Donations are accepted at the Hodge Center everyday including gamedays and look for more Ingles store drop off locations and special incentives for donations on our @UpstateSpartans social media accounts!   All donations support Miracle Hill Ministries in Spartanburg. 

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