CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Concluding the non-conference portion of the team's 2025-26 schedule, USC Upstate women's basketball dropped its final game ahead of the holiday break, falling 60-35 Saturday afternoon at Queens.
 
Leading the Spartans, sophomore guard Gwen Jenkins secured her first double-figure scoring game of the season, dropping a team-best 10 points behind a 4-of-10 shooting performance. She added three rebounds and one assist to her stat line to complement her scoring.
 
Four Spartans, redshirt senior forward Zora Fray-Chinn, freshman guard Kinley Paterson, sophomore forward Zoe Richardson, and redshirt junior forward Vera Söderblom, chipped in four points apiece, slotting behind Jenkins on the box score. Fray-Chinn led Upstate on the glass, pulling in a career-high-tying seven rebounds.
 
Game Information
Score: Queens 60; USC Upstate 35
Records: USC Upstate (5-9; 0-0 Big South); Queens (6-5; 0-0 ASUN)
Location: Curry Arena | Charlotte, N.C.
 
How It Happened
First Quarter

• Seeing defense prevail in the game's early going, Queens notched the first points of the day, earning the first four of the game. Emma Blair provided the first markers for Upstate with a layup from the left block.
• The Royals countered with an 11-0 scoring run, growing its advantage as the quarter dwindled. Gwen Jenkins snapped the run for the Spartans, knocking down a jumper inside the paint.

Second Quarter

• Opening the second stanza, Queens fashioned a 9-0 scoring stretch to begin the frame before a Zora Fray-Chinn layup ended the streak for the Spartans. The Royals added four additional markers, outscoring Upstate 13-2 heading towards the four-minute mark.
• Jenkins provided the Spartans' answer to the Royals' scoring stretch, rising up to hit from the wing, Upstate's lone triple of the first half. Answering a Queens layup, Upstate closed the half on a 6-0 scoring run, getting buckets from Vera Söderblom, Jenkins, and Cassie Gallagher.

Third Quarter

• Adding to its 6-0 scoring run to close the first half, Upstate notched the first markers of the third period on a Söderblom layup. Queens countered with a 9-0 scoring run before seeing the run snapped by an Aubrie Kierscht triple, the final three-pointer made by the Spartans on the afternoon.
• Responding to a Royals' field goal. Jenkins hit double-figures as she converted a traditional three-point play with 2:14 remaining in the quarter.

Fourth Quarter

• Expanding its lead, Queens offered another 9-0 scoring stretch, adding the first five markers of the final frame. A pair of free throws from Fray-Chinn snuffed the Royals' run.
• Upstate closed the game converting on each of its final five field goal attempts. Kinley Paterson and Zoe Richardson each made a pair of field goals in the stretch with the final added by Madison Miller.

 
Up Next for the Spartans
On the road to begin Big South play for the second time since joining the league ahead of the 2018-19 season, USC Upstate travels to the Lowcountry for a meeting with Charleston Southern on Dec. 31. The Spartans' and Buccaneers' third meeting to open league play features a 3 p.m. ET tip-off.
 
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