LEXINGTON, Ky. – Completing a stretch of three of four games played against Power-Four opponents—the first such instance of such a stretch in program history—with the second of back-to-back games against a Southeastern Conference foe, USC Upstate women's basketball dropped a 90-30 decision to No. 20 Kentucky Wednesday evening.
 
Topping a group of seven Spartans in the scoring column, redshirt sophomore guard Cassie Gallagher and redshirt freshman forward Madison Miller notched seven points apiece with sophomore forward Zoe Richardson finishing just behind the duo with six markers. Richardson's six points tie her career high while standing as her most points in an Upstate uniform.
 
Game Information
Score: No. 20 Kentucky 90; USC Upstate 30
Records: USC Upstate (1-3; 0-0 Big South); Kentucky (4-0; 0-0 SEC)
Location: Memorial Coliseum
 
How It Happened
First Quarter

• Beginning the night's scoring, Cassie Gallagher knocked down a mid-range pull-up jumper off an assist from Gwen Jenkins. Kentucky countered with an 8-0 scoring run before two Gallagher free throws cut the lead in half.
• Following a 9-0 Wildcat run, Zoe Richardson began her scoring, laying home a feed from Kinley Paterson. Madison Miller notched the next two Spartan buckets, hitting a layup and three-pointer, giving her five first-quarter markers.

 
Second Quarter

• Spanning the quarter break, Kentucky strung together 18 straight markers, opening the new stanza with a 16-0 run. Aijah Palmore stopped the run with a pair of free throws before Miller collected the half's final basket for the Spartans, a jumper inside the lane.

 
Third Quarter

• Hitting the first field goal of the second half, Gallagher nailed a trey from the wing, upping her scoring to seven points. The Wildcats embarked on a pair of 10-0 scoring stretches in the quarter, seeing the streaks snapped by Paterson and Richardson.

 
Fourth Quarter

• Opening the final frame, Aubrie Kierscht drained a triple from the top of the key, her ninth made three-pointer of the season. Kentucky, however, responded with a 16-0 scoring stretch before seeing Upstate fashion its longest scoring run of the night, reeling off five straight points behind a Richardson jumper and a trey from Jessa Troy—her first field goal as a Spartan.

 
Notable

• Hitting a three in the final two minutes of Wednesday's contest, Jessa Troy found the scoring column for the first time this season. With her points, 13 of the 14 Spartans to appear this season have made at least one field goal.
• Wrapping its two-game road swing against No. 20 Kentucky, the second of two straight games against a Power-Four opponent, USC Upstate completed a four-game stretch featuring three Power-Four foes. The stretch marks the first time in program history playing at least three Power-Four programs in a four-game stretch, besting five-game stretches during the 2011-12 and 2022-23 seasons.
• With back-to-back games at Georgia and Kentucky, Upstate completed its ninth instance of consecutive games versus a Power-Four opponent, doing so in consecutive years for the second time in program history (last: 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons).

 
Up Next for the Spartans
Returning home to the G.B. Hodge Center, USC Upstate hosts South Carolina State next Monday. The Spartans and Bulldogs tip off at 7 p.m. ET.
 
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