Behind Duo of Vera Söderblom and Aijah Palmore, Women's Basketball Advances in the Air Force Reserve Big South Women's Basketball Championship with 60-48 Win over Presbyterian

Wednesday, March 4

Johnson City, Tenn.

5:00 p.m.

University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics

12-19,6-10Big South

Presbyterian

3-27,1-15Big South

Presbyterian

USC Upstate

Photo by: Jason Aigner, Big South Conference

3/4/2026 9:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Beginning a new season as the start Air Force Reserve Big South Women's Basketball Championship brings with it postseason play, USC Upstate women's basketball relied on the foundation that its winning streak away from the G.B. Hodge Center was built on, riding those building blocks to a 60-48 Opening Round win over No. 9 seed Presbyterian Wednesday evening.

The hallmark of Upstate's winning streak away from home—now five games—has been the rebounding margin, a stat the Spartans won by a +20 mark against the Blue Hose, outrebounding its foe 40 to 20. Leading the way, graduate student forward Aijah Palmore and redshirt junior forward Vera Söderblom combined to equal Presbyterian's total, pulling in 20 combined boards, 11 from Palmore and nine from Söderblom.

The duo not only proved mighty on the glass, but in the scoring column as well, teaming for a combined 32 points, tying for the team lead with 16 points apiece. Going a career-best 6-of-8 from the field, Söderblom's 16 markers marked a career-high while Palmore, on 7-of-12 shooting, ended the night a marker shy of her career-best total as she registered her fifth double-double of the year.

Rounding out a trio of double-figure scorers, redshirt sophomore guard Cassie Gallagher notched her ninth straight and 24^th overall double-figure scoring game, chipping in 15 points. Complementing her scoring, Gallagher drew 10 of the 23 fouls committed by the Blue Hose, including stepping up to draw three charges, tying her Feb. 4 game at Presbyterian for the team single-game high.

Game Information
Score: No. 8 USC Upstate 60; No. 9 Presbyterian 48
Records: USC Upstate (12-19; 6-10 Big South); Presbyterian (3-27; 1-15 Big South)
Location: Freedom Hall | Johnson City, Tenn.

How It Happened
First Quarter

Jumping out to its lone lead game, Presbyterian opened the day's scoring on a 7-4 run, posting its largest lead of the day with 7:44 to play in the quarter, three points. Scoring the first four markers for the Spartans, Aijah Palmore added the opening and closing bucket of the Spartans'7-0 scoring run to take the advantage with Cassie Gallagher adding a three in transition in between.
The two sides traded field goals down the stretch of the opening frame, but the Blue Hose knocked down a three-pointer to end the quarter, cutting the Upstate lead to one.

Second Quarter

Reextending the Spartan advantage, Vera Söderblom began the second period with four straight points, hitting a layup and two free throws. She scored the first six markers of the quarter for Upstate, her fifth and sixth beginning an 8-0 Upstate run.
Adding to its 8-0 scoring stretch, the Spartans added five more points, outscoring the Blue Hose 13-4 over the final seven-and-a-half minutes of the half. Upstate carried a 12-point advantage into the break.

Third Quarter

Firing out of the halftime locker room, Upstate began the third quarter on a 7-2 scoring run, opening up a 17-point advantage, its largest of the day. Bookending the Gallagher jumper to build the 17-point lead, Presbyterian outscored the Spartans 6-2 entering the media stoppage.
Out of the timeout, Upstate held Presbyterian without a field goal for almost four minutes, seeing makes from Zoe Richardson, Kinley Paterson, and Gallagher to hold the advantage at 15 points.

Fourth Quarter

Adding to the four-point run to close the third frame, Presbyterian knocked down a triple, cutting the lead to single digits for the first time in the final stanza with its longest scoring run of the night. A Palmore layup preceded a pair of Söderblom layups, pushing the advantage back to double-digits with a 6-0 run.
The Spartans, later in the period, added a second 6-0 scoring spurt, fed by a traditional three-point play from Palmore and three markers from Gallagher, running the lead to 16 with 1:44 to play. The Blue Hose countered with a pair of triples, part of an 8-1 run, trimming the deficit to single digits with 43 seconds remaining before three Gallagher free throws created the final margin.

Notable

With a win Wednesday evening, USC Upstate has won at least one Big South Tournament game in three of its four seasons under head coach Jason Williams. With the win, Williams tied Tammy George as the winningest head coach in conference tournaments in the Spartans' Division I era (2007-pres.).
Extending its winning streak away from the Hodge to five games, Upstate posted a +20 rebounding margin against the Blue Hose. In the winning streak, the Spartans average a +20.8 rebounding margin, posting a margin of no less than +18.

Up Next for the Spartans
Advancing at the Air Force Reserve Big South Women's Basketball Championship, Upstate returns to action Thursday at 11:30 a.m. ET against No. 1 seed High Point.

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