Score: Kennesaw 57, USC Upstate 66
Records: Kennesaw State (8-14, 3-4), USC Upstate (14-8, 5-2)
Key Players: Jasmine McAllister (11 points, 13 rebounds); Kelly Dulkoski (14 points); Aareon Smith (10 points); 12 lead changes, four ties.
 
Box Score (XML) | Box Score (PDF)

SPARTANBURG, S.C.  – The Kennesaw State women's basketball team dropped a back-and-forth battle at the Hodge Center Thursday (Feb. 4) evening to USC Upstate, 66-57, in an Atlantic Sun Conference showdown.

In a grind-it-out, hard-fought battle between the Owls and Spartans, the host squad outscored KSU over the final 16 minutes 33-21 to overcome 12 lead changes and four ties over the course of the contest to earn its fifth win in league play.

For the Owls, senior Jasmine McAllister paced the squad with her eighth double-double of the season, scoring 11 points and grabbed 13 boards off the glass. Redshirt sophomore Kelly Dulkoski lead the team with a high of 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting from deep, while Aareon Smith totaled 10 points. In all, KSU totaled eight players in the scoring column.

Knotted at 31-31, the two teams came out in the second half with a new game on its hands, and USC Upstate used a 13-10 third quarter to grab momentum heading to the final frame before outscoring Kennesaw State, 22-16, over the final 10 minutes to secure the win.

McAllister scored seven of her 11 points in the second half, finishing the game 5-for-11 from the field, while A. Smith finished the final 20 minutes with eight points to lead the Owls over the second half.  Dulkoski, Smith and Clara Young all finished the game shooting a combined 6-for-16 from beyond the arc.

In the first half, the Owls used a 10-3 run over the final four minutes of the opening quarter to take an 18-14 lead into the second. Kennesaw State trailed 11-8 into the media timeout, but came out the aggressor over the final minutes of the frame, outscoring Upstate 12-4 in the paint and was a plus-4 in the rebounding column in the first 10 minutes.

Upstate responded in the second with a quick 9-0 burst to open the frame. But, Kennesaw State answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from Dulkoski and Young and closed the half with a 13-10 edge to take a 31-31 deadlock into the half. 

For the half, the Owls shot 48 percent from the floor, and held Upstate to 13-of-34 from the field. Kennesaw State also outscored the Spartans 10-1 from the bench and outscored Upstate 16-14 in the paint.
 
Next
Kennesaw State will fly up to Newark, New Jersey to take on NJIT for the second time in a week, taking on the Highlanders on Feb. 6 at 1 p.m. on ESPN3. The Owls will then return home for a three-game homestand.
 
Coach Perry Quote
"Upstate played with a little more fight and grit than we did tonight. We got down for a little bit and couldn't get back up. For three quarters tonight, I thought we played as good as basketball as we've played this season. We were playing like a team. The fourth quarter Upstate was more aggressive on the boards and scored 30 points in the paint for the game. Jasmine McAllister worked hard tonight and played well underneath. Our bench played well as Karly Frye and Iceis Walker played tough and it was good to see."
 - Kennesaw State Head Coach Nitra Perry

Notes
- Eight Owls tallied points in the game, and three totaled double-figure scoring.
- It was the fifth time this season Dulkoski, Smith and McAllister tallied double-figure scoring this season.
- The Owls outscored the Spartans, 12-1, on the bench, led by senior Karly Frye, Iceis Walker and Deandrea Sawyers.
- There were 12 lead changes in the game and four ties.
- It was the ninth time this season McAllister pulled down at least 13 rebounds in a game.  
- The Owls totaled 10 assists on 21 field goals, almost half of their shots made.
- KSU outscored the Spartans 18-3 from beyond the arc in the game.

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