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Madison Ruff
Jaiden Woodruff/Winthrop Athletics
67
Winner USC Upstate USCU 8-17,3-8 Big South
58
Winthrop Win 11-15,4-8 Big South
Winner
USC Upstate USCU
8-17,3-8 Big South
67
Final
58
Winthrop Win
11-15,4-8 Big South
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
USC Upstate USCU 15 21 14 17 67
Winthrop Win 19 9 13 17 58

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Eagles Stumble Against USC Upstate

ROCK HILL, S.C. -- The Winthrop University women's basketball team started ahead over the Spartans after one quarter, but USC Upstate seized control with a dominant second quarter and never looked back, handing the Eagles a 67-58 defeat on Tuesday night at Winthrop Coliseum. 

Madison Ruff led Winthrop with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Cori Lard added 16 points. Aubrie Kierscht paced USC Upstate with a game-high 24 points on 6-of-9 shooting from three-point range, while Cassie Gallagher chipped in 22 points and Aijah Palmore posted an impressive 11-point, 21-rebound double-double. 
FIRST QUARTER 
  • USC Upstate struck first as Aubrie Kierscht buried a three-pointer off an Aijah Palmore assist at the 9:35 mark to make it 3-0. 
  • Winthrop answered quickly behind a Mya Pierfax layup, then Cori Lard tied it at 5-5 with a jumper and a free throw after a Jenkins foul. 
  • Madison Ruff turned defense into offense, picking up a steal and converting a fastbreak layup to put the Eagles ahead 7-5 at the 8:01 mark. 
  • The teams traded baskets through the middle of the quarter before Kierscht knocked down her second triple to give the Spartans a 11-9 edge with 4:55 remaining. 
  • Ruff knotted it at 11-11 and then pushed Winthrop back in front 13-11 with a fastbreak layup off a Ryiah Wilson steal at 3:59. 
  • Ryiah Wilson capped the quarter with a corner three-pointer in the final 30 seconds, giving Winthrop a 19-15 lead after one. 
SECOND QUARTER 
  • Upstate opened the second with three-pointers from Cassie Gallagher and Aubrie Kierscht, sandwiching a Ruff jumper, to tie it at 21-21 and then grab a 24-21 lead on another Gallagher triple. 
  • Lard answered with a three-pointer off a Pierfax assist at the 7:16 mark to knot it back up at 24-24. 
  • Palmore gave USC Upstate the lead back with a putback layup at 6:11, Lard evened it again at 26-26 with a pair of free throws, but Gallagher responded with a jumper to put the Spartans ahead 28-26 for good. 
  • Winthrop went cold from the field, going 3-for-14 in the quarter while USC Upstate shot a blistering 9-for-16, including 3-for-6 from deep. 
  • Palmore dominated the glass in the half, grabbing three offensive rebounds in the second quarter alone as the Spartans controlled the boards 12-6 in the period. 
  • USC Upstate closed the half on a 12-2 run, capped by an Emma Blair layup with 32 seconds left, to carry a 36-28 lead into the break. 
THIRD QUARTER 
  • Winthrop got a free throw from Lard early, but USC Upstate answered with a Gallagher jumper in the paint and a free throw off an Amourie Porter technical foul to push the lead to 39-29.
  • Kierscht caught fire with back-to-back three-pointers at the 6:47 and 6:12 marks, both assisted by Kinley Paterson, to stretch the Spartan lead to 45-29. 
  • Ruff stopped the bleeding with a pair of free throws after a Miller foul, and Lard added a fastbreak layup off a steal to cut it to 45-33 at the 3:49 mark. 
  • Palmore continued her dominant work on the boards, grabbing two more offensive rebounds in the quarter and finishing a putback layup at 2:44 to push the Upstate lead back to 47-34. 
  • Lexi Castator buried a three-pointer off a Palmore assist to extend the Spartan cushion to 50-34 with 2:12 left in the third. 
  • Winthrop closed the quarter on a 7-0 run, getting a Persais Williams layup, a Naomi Wilson layup and a buzzer-beating Ryiah Wilson three-pointer to trim the deficit to 50-41 heading into the fourth. 
FOURTH QUARTER 
  • Upstate opened the fourth with a Gallagher three-point play to push the lead to 53-41, before a Ruff free throw and a Porter layup cut it to 53-44 early. 
  • Lard drilled a three-pointer at the 6:34 mark to pull Winthrop within 53-47, but Kierscht responded with a triple of her own at 6:11, and Palmore added a putback to make it 58-47. 
  • Winthrop refused to quit as Lard scored inside and Porter converted an and-one fastbreak layup off a Ruff assist to make it 60-52 with 3:03 remaining. 
  • The Eagles forced nine USC Upstate turnovers with their full-court press in the quarter, generating ten points off those miscues to fuel the comeback attempt. 
  • Ruff scored back-to-back layups in the final minute, including one with 30 seconds left to cut it to 63-58, but Gallagher iced it with four straight free throws down the stretch. 
  • Ryiah Wilson picked up two steals in the fourth, including one on a Kierscht turnover that led to a fastbreak layup to cut it to 61-56 with 52 seconds left, but the rally fell short. 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE 
  • Ruff paced the Eagles with 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting, adding seven rebounds, three steals and two assists in 36 minutes. 
  • Lard added 16 points on 5-of-14 shooting, including 2-of-6 from three-point range, while dishing out one assist and recording two steals.
  • Ryiah Wilson finished with nine points, six rebounds, a game-high six steals and three assists, while Naomi Wilson added four points, five boards and a block. 
  • Kierscht led all scorers with 24 points on 7-of-11 from the field, including 6-of-9 from beyond the arc, while pulling down six rebounds. 
  • Palmore posted a monster double-double with 11 points and 21 rebounds, including ten offensive boards, while Gallagher added 22 points, going 6-of-7 from the free-throw line. 
  • Winthrop dominated points in the paint 30-22 and scored 23 points off 25 USC Upstate turnovers, but shot just 4-of-21 (19.0%) from three-point range compared to the Spartans' 9-of-17 (52.9%). 
NEXT UP
Winthrop stays in Rock Hill, welcoming in Longwood

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