Box Score SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Host South Carolina Upstate closed the game on a 23-7 run to overtake Norfolk State and pull away for a 70-58 win in a battle of the Spartans on Saturday afternoon at the G.B. Hodge Center.
 
Brittany Starling recorded a double-double of 12 points and 19 rebounds for the Spartans of USC Upstate (8-6). Rae Corbo scored a game-high 22 points and Koryn Lawrence added 14 for the Spartans of NSU (2-10), who lost their fifth in a row.
 
NSU made just two field goals in the final 10 minutes of the game, both by Lawrence. Still, NSU led 51-47 after two Amber Brown free throws with 8:54 left to play before USC Upstate rallied. NSU managed just seven points the rest of the way, five from free throws and two on a jumper by Lawrence with 1:42 left. NSU turned the ball over seven times and missed eight of its final nine field-goal attempts in the closing eight and a half minutes.
 
Upstate's Mar'Lisa Braxton hit two free throws with 7:29 left to give her team the lead for good, at 52-51. NSU was still within one at 55-54 with 4:53 remaining in the game after two free throws by Lawrence. But Kristen Dickerson hit a 3-pointer and Travonda Haddock converted a three-point play on back-to-back possessions for Upstate to widen the advantage to seven.
 
There were nine lead-changes and three ties in the first half. NSU went on a 7-0 run late in the half, fueled by field goals by Lawrence, Corbo and Kayla Roberts, to open up its largest lead of the game, at 29-21. But Upstate responded with a 7-1 spurt to close the half, which included four points from Starling, to cut NSU's halftime lead to 30-28.
 
The second half saw five more lead-changes and six ties as the teams were separated by three points or less for the first 10 minutes of the final stanza. Lawrence did her best to keep NSU close, scoring 12 of her season-high 14 points in the second half. But Upstate outshot NSU 41.2 percent to 31.8 after halftime and scored 11 points off 11 second-half NSU turnovers.
 
For the game, NSU had 24 turnovers and shot 35.6 percent from the floor (16-of-45). The taller Spartans of USC Upstate held a 30-12 edge in points in the paint and a 13-2 advantage in second-chance points.
 
Sharmayne Edwards added 12 points and Dickerson had 11 for Upstate. Both dished out four assists.
 
Corbo was 5-of-11 from the floor and 11-of-14 from the free-throw line for NSU in notching her seventh 20-point game of the year. Lawrence enjoyed a perfect shooting day, hitting all four of her field goals and all six of her free throws. Kayla Roberts added nine points and 11 rebounds, and Jazamine Gray had five assists.
 
NSU has a quick turnaround before its next game, a MEAC matchup with Coppin State at 6 p.m. Monday at Echols Hall in Norfolk. NSU's final 15 regular-season games are against conference opponents.