ORANGEBURG, SC – South Carolina State saw its ten-point halftime lead evaporate but rallied down the stretch to earn a hard-fought 71-66 non-conference win over intrastate rival USC Upstate Wednesday night at S-H-M Memorial Center. 

The Lady Bulldogs, who improved to 3-4 on the season, had three players in double figures and got a double-double from senior Esther Udonsi in the victory. Udonsi led the way for SCSU with 17 points and added a game-high 10 rebounds for Coach Audra Smith's squad.  

Transfers Jakayvea Akins and Rhein Beamon, also seniors, contributed 15 points each in the win. Senior Kemoni Jenkins had eight points, including a critical three-point play with 46.7 seconds left that broke a 63-all deadlock. Orangeburg's Jaquanna Murray, another senior, had nine rebounds to go with six points. Freshman Olivia Gabriel also added six points. 

"I'm proud of the effort of our team in hanging on for the win," Smith said. "We got up by 10 points but I knew the game would be one of runs. USC Upstate was not going to go away. They came roaring back and actually took a two-point lead in the fourth quarter before we responded. 

"Esther Udonsi stepped up and made some big shots for us, a couple of threes, and she also had 10 rebounds for a double-double. But the win was an all-out, total team effort. I'm happy at the fight we showed after losing the lead." 

USC Upstate's Brianna Lewis, who put her team on her back down the stretch, tossed in 35 points, including 17 of the Spartan's final 24, in the loss. Natalia Panufnik added 11 points and Riley Popplewell eight and a team-high nine boards for the visitors who fell to 2-5. 

Lewis' breakaway basketball following a steal gave the visitors their only lead of the contest, 44-42, with 8:10 to play.  

But Beamon made one of two free throws and a short jumper as SCSU regained the lead at 45-44 with 7:07 on the clock. Udonsi then nailed a 3-pointer -- one of five she canned from long range – for a 48-44 Lady Bulldog advantage with 6:44 on the clock. 

Following an inside basket by Michaela Gibbons that brought the visitors to within 48-46 with 6:27 showing, Udonsi added back-to-back 3-pointers and Akins a layup to bush the SCSU advantage to 56-48 at the 4:52 mark. 

The Lady Spartan rallied behind a short jumper and two free throws from Lewis and a 3-pointer by Rylie Parkhurst to cut the margin to one, 56-55, with 4:02 showing. The Lady Bulldogs got two free throws from Jenkins, a 3-pointer from Gabriel and a driving layup from Beamon for a 63-57 advantage with 2:42 on the clock before USC Update rallied to within 66-64 on the play of Lewis with 41.9 seconds on the clock. 

Smith's team made 5-6 free throws in the final 12.6 seconds of the contest to hang on for the win. The Lady Bulldogs led 19-14 after the opening quarter and 31-21 at the half before USC Upstate timed the lead to 40-38 after three. 

SC State returns to action Saturday when it hosts Winthrop in a 2 p.m. start. 

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