Clinton, S.C. – The Presbyterian College women's basketball team battled for 40 minutes but came up just short on Tuesday night in the G.B. Hodge Center as the host USC Upstate picked up the 68-66 win. Maleia Bracone led the Blue Hose with 18 points as Jade Compton added 17 points off the bench. 

FINAL SCORE: USC Upstate 68, Presbyterian 66 
LOCATION: G.B. Hodge Center (Spartanburg, S.C.) 
RECORDS: Presbyterian (9-15, 4-10 Big South) | USC Upstate (19-6, 11-3 Big South) 

Coach Sharp's Thoughts 
"I was proud of our fight tonight. We got down early and fought back to take the lead. It's important we build off of tonight's performance and take it back home for tomorrow's matchup.."

Scoring the Game
- The Blue Hose got out to the early 5-2 lead with a three from Bracone and followed by a Brady layup with still 8:41 to play in the opening quarter. The hosts responded with a 9-2 run over the next three minutes to take an 11-7 lead with 5:40 to play in the opening stanza. The Spartans pushed the lead to six before a Compton three cut it to a 15-12 game. The two teams struggled to find points down the stretch as it was 17-13 after one frame. 
- Presbyterian quickly cut the margin for the hosts down to two, 19-17 with 8:28 to play in the quarter after a jumper and pull up jumper from Carter and Compton. USC Upstate went on a 10-0 run over the next two minutes to push the lead to 12, 29-17. PC closed the first half with a 12-5 run to cut the deficit to five, 34-29 at the half. 
- The two teams traded early baskets to begin the second half before a 7-4 burst from the Blue Hose cut the deficit to two, 42-40 with 4:51 to play in the third quarter. USC Upstate used an 8-2 run over the next three minutes to push it to a 50-42 edge with 1:50 to play in the quarter. PC closed on a 5-2 burst to send it to the fourth at 52-47 Upstate. 
- Upstate pushed it to a seven-point lead quickly in the fourth at 56-49 before a 10-5 run from the Blue Hose cut the deficit to two, 61-59 with 5:38 to play in regulation. PC took a three-point lead at 66-63 with 1:02 to play on the heels of a 7-2 run. The Spartans however used the final burst of the game on Tuesday to score the final five points en route to the 68-66 win. 

Players of the Game
- Maleia Bracone led the Blue Hose with 18 points which was one off of her career-high set last week against Hampton. Jade Compton added 17 points off of the bench in the contest as well. Tionna Carter pulled down a team-best nine rebounds as Bracone had a team-high three assists. Molly Coleman led the Spartans with 24 points as Chellia Watson added 15 points. Rachel Rose and Jada Logan added 13 and 12 points respectively to round out the double-figure scorers. Logan and Coleman each had a team-best five rebounds. Logan dished out a team-high six helpers. 

Stats of the Game
- USC Upstate shot 29-of-54 (53.7%) from the field as Presbyterian posted 24-of-56 (42.9%). PC made six threes compared to three from the Spartans. The Blue Hose were 12-of-15 at the free-throw line compared to 7-of-9 for Upstate. PC won the rebounding battle at 36-24 including 15 offensive boards for Presbyterian. Upstate had 17 assists compared to 14 for the Blue Hose. The hosts had 11 steals while PC totaled nine steals. Upstate won the battle in the paint with 48 points compared to 28 for Presbyterian. Presbyterian outscored the Spartans bench at 25-2. 

Notables
- Bracone recorded her 15th double-figure scoring game of the season and her fourth straight game on Tuesday. She totaled 18 points including four three-pointers. The sophomore finished one off of her career-high set last week against Hampton. 
- She also matched her career-high with those four made triples.
- Tionna Carter set a season-high with five offensive rebounds as she had a team-high nine boards.
- Jade Compton had her 17th double-figure scoring game of the season with 17 points off of the bench. 
- Compton passed Salina Virola for eighth in the program's DI record book for points scored. She's now totaled 867 in her time with the Blue Hose. 
- Her 17 points also place her sixth in the single-season DI record book for points with 365.
- The Garland, Texas native moved to second in the single-season DI record book for field goals made with 140. 
- With her three offensive rebounds on Tuesday, Compton is now the second player in the DI history to total 200 offensive rebounds in their time at PC. She hit 200 on the dot tonight in Spartanburg. 

Up Next
- PC and Upstate travel down the road to Clinton tomorrow for a rematch at 6 p.m. inside the Templeton Center with the game being shown on ESPN+.