ORANGEBURG, SC – The Winthrop women's basketball team earned its second consecutive victory Saturday afternoon, downing the South Carolina State Bulldogs 58-50.

The Eagles improve to 3-5 on the year and have posted their first winning streak since February 2015.  The Bulldogs fell to 3-5 on the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The two sides played a tight opening quarter.  Winthrop grabbed the early lead and SC State battled back to take a 12-8 advantage.  After the Eagles tied the game at 12-12 the Bulldogs grabbed the final three points to lead 15-12 after the first 10 minutes.

SC State increased its lead to 10 points with 2:24 remaining in the half but the Eagles were able to close the period on a 7-2 run and trailed 28-23 at the break.

Another strong start for the Bulldogs in the third quarter saw their lead jump to 11 points with 5:05 remaining.  The Eagles slowly cut into the SC State lead and a three-pointer by Essence Cowan with 64 seconds left in the period brought Winthrop within two heading into the final quarter.

The Eagles were able to tie the contest at 43-43 with 5:44 remaining and took its first lead since the first quarter at 45-44 with just under five minutes on the clock.  Winthrop slowly increased its lead to take home the 58-50 victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Essence Cowan scored a season-high 17 points in the victory, connecting on 5-of-6 from the field, 3-of-4 from three-point range and a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.  Miquela Santoro scored 11 points while grabbing five rebounds.

Winthrop shot 40 percent from the field, 50 percent from three-point range and 80 percent from the free-throw line.  The Eagles outrebounded the Bulldogs 37-30.

WHAT'S UP NEXT
Winthrop returns home for the first time since Nov. 17 when the Eagles host the Elon Phoenix on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 2 p.m.