HIGH POINT, N.C. – After entering in the highest seeding since joining the conference in 2018, the USC Upstate women's basketball program continued to write history as the No. 2 seed Spartans downed the No. 7 seed Longwood Lancers to advance to the Big South Women's Basketball Semifinal round for the first time in program history. Dakota Reeves led the charge with 15 points while Rebekah Gordon and Trinity Johnson earned their first double-doubles of the season. Johnson finishes the day leading the program for assists in a single season in Upstate's Division I era. She sits fourth All-Time for assists in a single season with 142.  

Despite No. 7 seed Longwood getting a two-point lead in the beginning of the first quarter, No. 2 seed USC Upstate started the Quarterfinal round strong with 20 points. Trinity Johnson got started early, leading the Spartans through the first quarter with seven points while AC Markham and Isabell West contributed four apiece as well. West began the game with some heat as she collected almost half of Upstate's first quarter rebounds and led the team with five boards. Not only did Upstate take more shots than Longwood but the Spartans displayed accuracy on offense after going 53.3% from the field, compared the Longwood's 38.5%, but also went 100% from the free throw line and had two more made shots from distance than the Lancers did.  

Upstate continued to push on offense while making scoring difficult for Longwood and went into the halftime break holding an eight-point lead after forcing the Lancers to take advantage of the free throw opportunities they were given. Senior Dakota Reeves came alive in the second quarter and scored nine of Upstate's 13 second quarter points. The Lancers managed to score one more point than the Spartans in the second quarter, but Upstate continued to show accuracy, posting a 41.7% field goal percentage compared to Longwood's 33.3%. The Defensive Player of the Year switched roles in the second quarter and was credited with five assists while also collecting one defensive rebound. At the break, Reeves led the team with nine points while Johnson sat with seven points, seven assists, and two rebounds, and West sat with seven rebounds and four points, and two assists.  

Coming out of the halftime break, the Spartans were not only able to extend their lead to 13-points on two occasions but also hold the Lancers to only eight points scored. Both teams went 4-13 from the field and scoreless from the free throw line, but the deciding factor in the third quarter was none other than Rebekah Gordon who claimed all of Upstate's third quarter points including the lone shot from distance to give Upstate the edge. Gordon led the team in rebounds with three while Reeves also collected two boards.  

The Spartans put the nail in the coffin in the fourth quarter after stacking another 18 points and allowing only four points through the last 10 minutes. Johnson was back to business on offense and led the team through to the end with seven points, two assists, and one rebound. Reeves also had a strong finish with six points in the final quarter. As a team, Upstate went 37.5% from the field compared to Longwood's 11.1% while also going 60.0% from distance and 60.0% from the free throw line. The Spartans were able to find more success off turnovers (5 pts-0 pts) as they did not give up the ball a single time in the final quarter while also having more success in the paint (6-2) and more success off second chances (5-0).  

 
Game Information 
Score: USC Upstate 60; Longwood 37 
Records: No. 2 USC Upstate (16-14; 10-6 Big South) vs. No. 7 Longwood (9-21; 6-10 Big South)  
Location: Qubein Center | High Point, N.C.   

How It Happened: 

First Quarter: Upstate 20; Longwood 11 

• Upstate began the game with a quick two points on the board before Longwood was able to stack four points and hold a slight lead to nearly halfway through the first quarter. 

• The Spartans reclaimed the lead thanks to a pair of made free throws from Johnson (4-4), which kicked off an 11-point scoring run to establish a larger lead over the Lancers (15-4). 

• Longwood outscored Upstate 7-5 in the final two minutes of the first quarter, but the Spartans kept the nine-point lead at the end of the first 10 minutes (20-11). 

Second Quarter: Upstate 33; Longwood 25 

• Longwood kicked off the second quarter with eight unanswered points to bring the game within one point (20-19). 

• A three from Reeves got the Spartans offense started back up as Upstate outscored Longwood 5-1 over the next four minutes.  

• In the final 95 seconds of the first half, both teams exchanged points with Upstate maintaining the lead after adding eight more points to the board while the Lancers tallied another five to make the game 33-25 in favor of the higher seed Spartans. 

Third Quarter: Upstate 42; Longwood 33 

• Coming out of the halftime break, four points for Upstate and two points for Longwood gave the Spartans a 10-point lead before both teams would go scoreless for nearly three minutes.  

• Upstate broke the scoring drought just before the media timeout thanks to a shot from distance from Reeves (40-27). 

• Between the media timeouts, Longwood stacked four points compared to Upstate's two to bring the game back within single digits (42-31). 

• The Lancers claimed the final points of the third quarter in the final 46 seconds to make the game 42-33 going into the final quarter. 

Fourth Quarter: Upstate 60; Longwood 37 

• Upstate began the final quarter with five unanswered points, before both teams went scoreless for just under two minutes.  

• The Spartans broke the scoreless drought with another three points to establish a 17-point lead with just under five and a half minutes remaining (50-33). 

• In the next minute and a half, Longwood continued to try to chip away at Upstate's lead, but the Spartans couldn't be contained as the No. 2 seed maintained a comfortable lead going into the last three minutes (52-37). 

• The final three minutes was all Upstate as the Spartans not only kept the Lancers at 37 points for the remainder of the game, but also collected another eight points in the process for a 60-37 finish.  

Notable 

• Dakota Reeves led the Spartans in scoring for the third time this season with 15 points. 

• This was Reeves fifth time scoring 15+ points and her eighth game scoring in double figures. 

• Trinity Johnson earned her first double-double of the season with 14 points and a career-high 10 assists. This was Johnson's ninth game of the season scoring 10+ points. 

• Johnson's 10 assists are the most in a game by a Spartan since Anda Kuzmina (10) on 2/24/20 vs. Presbyterian.  

• Rebekah Gordon earned her first double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. This was Gordon's seventh game of the season scoring 10+ points.  

• This is the first game since 2/5/2021 that two Spartans have gotten a double-double (Molly Coleman [24 pts; 14 reb] and Jada Logan [10 pts.; 10 reb]). 

• The Spartans did not give up a single three-point shot the whole game as the Lancers went 0-12 from distance.  
   

Up Next for the Spartans  
USC Upstate women's basketball advances to the Semifinal round of the Big South Tournament and is set to take on No. 3 seed Radford Saturday Mar. 9 at 8:00 p.m.  
 

Connect with the Spartans       
Facebook.com/UpstateAthletics       
Twitter | @UpstateWBB @UpstateSpartans       
Instagram | @UpstateWBB @UpstateSpartans       
YouTube.com/UpstateSpartans