GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG women's basketball team lost 84-61 on he road at USC Upstate Tuesday night. The Spartans are still on their hunt for their first victory away from Fleming Gymnasium as they stand at 3-4 overall, with three of those loses being on the road. Lucy Mason (Stone Mountain, Ga./Chamblee Charter) led the Spartans with a team-high 20 points marking the seventh- game this season in which Mason has scored 20-or more points.

USC Upstate scored the opening basket and never looked back. The Spartans were able to tie it up early with a jumper by Jazmine Missouri (Largo, Md./Academy of the Holy Cross) but Upstate pulled ahead to lead 8-4 at the 5:53 mark. A jumper by Shanese Harris (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) cut the deficit to one, but Upstate's Brittany Clency answered back with a jumper of her own.

After the first period, UNCG trailed by five, 16-11, with the Spartans leading scorer Mason being held to just two points.

Mason opening the second period with a layup cutting the deficit to three but USC Upstate went on an 8-0 run to pull head by its largest margin thus far 24-11. UNCG managed to chip away and trail by eight, 37-29, at halftime.

UNCG shot 31.4 percent from the field and held a slight 23-22 advantage on rebounds. Upstate shot 44.1 percent from the floor led by Kristen Dickerson who had 10 points shooting 4-for-10 from the field.

A fast break layup by Brittany Starling at the seven-minute mark gave USC Upstate its largest lead, 13. UNCG responded with a 9-0 run over the next two and a half minutes capped off by a jumper from India Timpton (Charlotte, N.C./Myers Park), which made it a two-possession game at 46-42. Raven Jefferson drained a trey from the corner at 4:06 sparking a 14-2 run that put USC Upstate back on top by 13, with 2:56 to play.

Upstate maintained its double-figure lead throughout the final period and took its largest lead of 23 with seconds left on the clock.

UNCG improved to shoot 33.3 percent from the field in the second half but connected on just one-of-eight shots from downtown. The Spartans sent Upstate to the free throw line 13 times in the final 20 minutes where they connected on 10 attempts. The victors shot an impressive 56.7 percent from the field marking 17-of-30 shots from the floor in the final half.

Overall, UNCG shot 32.4 percent from the field in the loss but slightly out-rebounded USC Upstate 43-42. Mason was joined in double figure scoring by Timpton who matched her career-high with 13 points while grabbing seven rebounds. Bailey Williams (Harrisonburg, Va./Spotswood) was the third Spartan to score in double figures with 10 points and a team-high three steals.

Junior transfer Gena Penick (Amherst, Va./Louisburg) had a career-high six points and two rebounds all in the fourth period while freshman Arielle Harvey (Loganville, Ga./South Gwinnett) tallied her first career block late in the game.

UNCG returns to Fleming Gymnasium Saturday, December 5, when the Spartans welcome Tennessee Tech to town. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. and fans can watch live on the SoCon Digital Network.

-UNCG-