No. 7 Charleston Southern Tops No. 10 USC Upstate, Moves To Quarterfinals
Led by a swarming defense and four players in double figures, the Charleston Southern women's basketball team cruised to a 67-52 Big South Women's Basketball Championship First Round win over USC Upstate from the Buc Dome.
Four players finished the game in double figures for CSU (13-17) as Shelby Wilbanks (15 points), Ke'Asia Jackson (14 points), Breannah Bretches (11 points) and Tierra Steede (10 points) made it three-straight wins for the Bucs while Michaela Gibbons and Natala Panufnik ended the night in double figures for USC Upstate (7-23).
The Spartans came out shooting .438 from the floor and held a 20-18 lead after 10 minutes, but a defensive stranglehold over the next 20 minutes flipped the script and gave the Bucs a 24-point second-half lead. In the second and third quarters, CSU outscored the Spartans 34-11 and used 23 turnovers for 25 points on the other end.
The Bucs completed the three-game sweep of the Spartans and moved to 2-0 in all-time matchups with the No. 10 seed in the Big South tournament while collecting their third win as the No. 7 seed. CSU also advanced to the quarterfinals for the fourth-straight season and four-consecutive tournament in which the Bucs won their first game.
After the up-and-down first quarter, CSU put their foot on the gas thanks to Jackson's 14 points and 21 Spartan turnovers to race past USC Upstate 49-32 over the final 30 minutes.
CSU heads to No. 2 High Point for the Big South quarterfinals seeking their first win over the Panthers this season after taking them to overtime and losing in the final moments earlier. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m from the Millis Center and can be seen on ESPN3.