The University of North Florida women's basketball team's second half rally fell just short, losing a hard-fought 65-59 decision to USC Upstate on Saturday, Jan. 30, in Atlantic Sun Conference action at the Hodge Center.
North Florida fell to 6-15 on the year and 3-9 in A-Sun play, while the Spartans improved to 13-7 and 7-4 in league play.
The Ospreys fell behind 8-0 to start the game and trailed by nine at 23-14 with 8:34 left in the first half. UNF rallied to slice Upstate's lead to three at the half at 28-25.
The Spartans opened the second half with an 8-0 run to go up 11 at the 16:56 mark and eventually stretched their lead to 17 at 53-36 with 9:59 to play.
But North Florida refused to fold and went on a 21-7 run over the next eight minutes to pull to within three at 60-57 with a 1:58 to go. UNF again cut the lead to three at 62-59 with 35 seconds to play but Upstate closed out the game with three free-throws to hold on for the win.
Sophomore guard Kim Baker led the Ospreys with 16 points and junior guard Juliemay Syquio added 11. Freshman Lakira Jones pitched in with nine points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
North Florida was able to make it a game by holding Upstate to 31 percent shooting for the game. The Ospreys shot 39.3 percent from the field, 35.7 from 3-point range and 50 percent from the line. The Spartans shots 37.5 from long range and 65.7 from the free-throw line.
Kendra Wallace had a game-high 24 for Upstate and Chelsea McMillan added 20 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Up next for UNF is its Nashville trip, facing Lipscomb on Saturday, Feb. 6, at 2 p.m. and then heading across town to take on Belmont on Monday, Feb. 8, at 8 p.m. Both games can be seen on ASun.TV.
