Women’s Basketball huddles together in their match against USC Upstate last Thursday

By Brandon Boyer, Staff Writer

The UNCG Women’s basketball team came up just short in a battle of the Spartans this week, falling to the USC Upstate Spartans by the score of 69-60 at the Fleming Gymnasium for the team’s home opener.

Jarae Savage came out flying and set a career-high in scoring with 19 points, dominating from the field by scoring 7-of-15 shots and crashing in 3-of-4 from beyond the three-point line. Junior guard, Lucy Mason and sophomore Shanese Harris both had double figures in scoring as well, with 11 points and 13 point respectively.

Despite the Spartans shooting a very solid 23-of-56 from the floor, USC Upstate handled their own by playing fundamentally, winning the game on the glass. USC recorded 49 rebounds to UNCG’s 40, ultimately tipping the tide in their favor.

Turnovers also played a large part in this tussle, as the green-c lad visitors ripped off 27 turnovers, converting many of those, for a total of 26 points on the break.

This game was mostly streaky from both sides, with momentum changing the outlook of the game from one minute to the next.

The Spartans ran out to a 13-point lead to begin the game, with Savage and Bailey Williams helping to lead the way. The visitors struck back with a 15-2 run of their own to change the weight of the battle in the first half. With the flurry and exchange of scoring ultimately balancing out by halftime, neither team looked consistent enough to really stake a claim to win.

USC Upstate flew out of the halftime interval with a streak of their own, but the hosting Blue and Gold would have their say and took control of the game. That control was short lived, however, as momentum permanently switched in favor of the green-clad visitors as the game wore on. Brittany Clency and Shelby Hicks both scored on back-to-back trip for the USC Upstate Spartans, which tipped the lead in their favor, with UNCG only coming within three as the game wore to a close.

Another streak saw USC stretch their lead to 10 before the game came to a close.

Lucy Mason put in 40 minutes on Thursday, but was ultimately ineffective on an off night for her. Going 4-of-10 from the floor, with seven rebounds and four assists, Mason would usually be lauded for a solid performance on the night, but it was the turnovers in the possession that stunted what could have been a much closer game in the second half. Mason coughed the ball up seven times, which led to scores on the defensive end for the Spartans.

The USC Upstate Spartans improved to 2-2 on the season after starting 0-2. The Blue and Gold-clad Spartans fall to 1-2 on the season, with a visit to Longwood on the books for this upcoming week. Following that, the Spartans head to Annapolis, Maryland, where they’re set to face off against Navy and Northern Kentucky in the Navy Tournament this upcoming Friday and Saturday.

The Spartans return home on Dec.5, where they will play Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m. in the Fleming Gymnasium.