Women's Basketball 12/11/2014 10:34:00 PM UNCGSpartans.com

Women's Basketball Races Past South Carolina State, 70-50

Box Score GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG women's basketball team used an 11-0 run to start the second half to cruise past South Carolina State, 70-50, Thursday night at Fleming Gymnasium.

The Spartans improved to 4-5 on the season and handed South Carolina State its worst loss of the season dropping them to 5-3. All four of UNCG's victories this season have come when the Spartans score 70 or more points.

Sophomores Shanese Harris (Chesapeake, Va/Western Branch) and India Timpton (Charlotte, N.C./Myers Park) set new career highs for points. Harris after setting a new career mark with 17 on Monday against High Point, hit for 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting and grabbed six rebounds. Timpton filled up the stat sheet with a career-high 11 points and four blocks. The Charlotte native also pulled down eight rebounds and had three steals.

Junior guard Lucy Mason (Stone Mountain, Ga./Chamblee Charter) tied for the team lead with 18 points on 9-of-18 shooting with three assists. Senior Jarae Savage (Marietta, Ga./North Cobb) finished with eight points and nine rebounds in the victory.

The Blue and Gold forced 26 turnovers for South Carolina State who was coming into the contest with just 18 turnovers a game. UNCG had 11 steals that led to 27 points off turnovers and 17 fast-break points. The Spartans also outplayed the Bulldogs in points in the paint by a 36-26 margin.

UNCG was stellar from the free throw line shooting 72 percent on 18-of-25 as South Carolina State shot just 66.7 percent on 10-of-15. In a balanced effort, 10 different UNCG players were credited with points in the win.

In the first half, the Blue and Gold took a 9-4 lead at the first media timeout as Harris scored four of the first nine points. South Carolina State would tie the game at 14-14 after a three-pointer from Jahmia Bradley at the 10:06 mark.

Harris would hit a driving layup to cap off a 7-2 run giving UNCG a 21-16 advantage with just six minutes left in the half. Another mini 8-2 run would give the Spartans a 10-point cushion after back-to-back jumpers from Savage and junior Jazmine Missouri (Largo, Md./Academy of the Holy Cross) to make it 29-19 with 3:41 remaining until intermission.

Over the next three minutes, South Carolina State would battle back cutting the lead to 33-25 at halftime after outscoring the Spartans 6-4.

UNCG would open the second half on an 11-0 pushing its lead to 44-25 off a jumper from Mason. The Spartans wouldn't relinquish the lead the rest of the way.

Over a six-minute stretch the Spartans would take a commanding 62-33 lead off an 11-1 run finished by a fast-break layup from Harris. UNCG would hold a 29-point lead, its largest of the night, and South Carolina State couldn't get the deficit under 20.

With three minutes left, Mallory Stone hit a layup to make the score 67-43 but freshman Keli Foster (Hampton, Va./Bethel) hit a pair of free throws to push the lead back to 26 points at 69-43. The Bulldogs would outscore UNCG 7-3 to end the game but the Spartans ended with a 20-point win.

The Blue and Gold travel to Richmond, Va. to take on VCU Sunday, Dec. 14 at 1 p.m.

Follow the UNCG women's basketball team all season long by logging on to www.uncgspartans.com and following the Spartans official Twitter feeds @uncgsports/@uncgwbb

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