Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop moved to 1-1 in Big South competition with a loss in the final second to USC Upstate in the Big South home opener by a final score of 52-51 on Saturday afternoon.
Winthrop (7-8, 1-1 Big South) | USC Upstate (7-8, 1-1 Big South)
Jan. 6, 2024 | Winthrop Coliseum
Winthrop 51, USC Upstate 52
How it Happened
First Quarter | Winthrop burst out to a 9-0 lead three minutes into the contest, with
Leonor Paisana and
Blessing Okoh each knocking down a deep bomb. Upstate got on the board with a three-pointer of their own at the 6:46 mark and then hit a pair of free throws a few plays later. Free throws by
Jada Ryce and an
Elli Garnett triple two minutes later restored Winthrop's early nine-point lead with 3:30 left. The Eagles continued to stay near this margin for the remainder of the period and went into the second quarter leading 16-10.
Second Quarter | The Spartans scored the first three points of the second quarter only to have each team split the next 10 points. Both teams then went scoreless for a prolonged period as Winthrop continued to lead 21-18 with less than five minutes left.
Angel Burgos ended the drought with a layup at the 3:05 mark while the Eagles ultimately held Upstate to zero points for six minutes. Down 25-18, the Spartans tied the game going into the break by scoring the last seven points.
Third Quarter | Upstate seized their first lead of the game on a layup 30 seconds into the second half only to have Ryce quickly tie it on a steal during an Upstate inbound pass. The next few possessions saw the two team's trade baskets for much of the rest of the frame, leaving Winthrop with a 38-37 lead inside of two minutes left. The Eagles then hit three free throws and a bucket by Burgos after that, giving them a 43-37 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Fourth Quarter | Ryce put the Eagles up eight on a layup immediately to start the fourth quarter but Upstate answered with a layup and two free throws to cut the deficit in half nearly three minutes later.
Marissa Gasaway put the Eagles up seven on a layup and a free throw at the 4:38 mark but Upstate then scored five quick points to cut it to two with three minutes left.
Ronaltha Marc gave Winthrop a 50-46 lead on a layup nearly a minute later but the Spartans rallied to tie the game on two free throws and a layup with 47 seconds left. Ryce gave Winthrop the lead on a free throw with eight seconds remaining but Winthrop fouled Upstate on a three-point attempt with two-tenths of a second left. The Spartans hit two of the three free throws to clinch the victory.
Statistical Standouts (Team)
- Winthrop moves to 605-899 all-time as a program.
- Winthrop moves to 204-368 in Big South regular-season games.
- Winthrop moves to 347-324 at home.
- Leonor Paisana is now six three-pointers away from moving into the Top 10 in school history in career triples (78).
- Winthrop has made more than 30% of their free throws in every single contest up to this point in the season.
- This is Gasaway's eighth double figure performance in rebounds this season.
- Garnett had a career high in rebounds.
- There were a combined 10 lead changes and eight ties.
- Winthrop shot 32% from the field in the game, including 45% in the first quarter.
- Winthrop shot 71% from the free throw line in the game.
- Winthrop held the Spartans to 29% from three-point range.
- Three Eagles played more than 30 minutes.
Statistical Standouts (Individual)
Jada Ryce (35 min, 6 rebounds, 9 pts)
Ronaltha Marc (34 min, 4 rebounds, 9 pts)
Marissa Gasaway (30 min, 11 rebounds, 9 pts)
Up Next
Winthrop continues Big South play, staying home to square off with Presbyterian on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN+.
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