ROCK HILL, SC – The USC Upstate Spartans used a 22-2 run in the second quarter Thursday to open a 27-point lead and went on to defeat the Winthrop women's basketball team 76-50 at the Winthrop Coliseum.

Winthrop suffered its first conference loss of the season, falling to 2-1 in the Big South and to 6-8 overall.  Upstate improved to 1-1 in the conference and 5-8 overall.

HOW IT HAPPENED
USC Upstate came out firing in the first quarter, jumping out to a 7-0 lead in the first two minutes of the contest.  The two squads traded buckets on both ends of the floor for the remainder of the period and the Spartans led 19-12 after the opening 10 minutes.

Winthrop struggled shooting and turned the ball over nine times in the second quarter as the Spartans used a 22-2 run to open a 46-19 lead.  Upstate led 48-22 at the break.

The two sides combined for 10 turnovers and only four points through the first four minutes of the third quarter.  After the slow start the teams started matching each other on both ends of the floor; bucket for bucket, stop for stop.  Heading into the final quarter, the Spartans maintained at 60-34 advantage.

Winthrop outscored Upstate 9-3 through the first five minutes of the fourth quarter but couldn't garner any momentum as the Eagles turned the ball over nine more times in the quarter as Upstate took the 76-50 victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Jah'che Whitfield was the only Eagle to finish in double-figure scoring with 12 points and led the team with eight rebounds.  Miquela Santoro added nine points.

Winthrop shot 35 percent from the field while the Spartans shot 48 percent including 82 percent in the second quarter.  Upstate edged the Eagles 35-34 in rebounds.  The two teams combined to turn the ball over 54 times with the Eagles losing the ball 30 to Upstate's 24.

WHAT'S UP NEXT
Winthrop will hit the road for the first time in the conference season Saturday as the Eagles head to Radford, VA for a 2 p.m. tip against the Radford Highlanders.