The Dolphins’ first road victory once again eluded their grasps as the JU women’s basketball team fell to USC Upstate, 62-49, on Monday night in Atlantic Sun action at the Hodge Center.

Tee’Ara Copney put the Spartans (14-7, 8-4 A-Sun) on her shoulders after recording a game-high 23 points and six rebounds off the bench. Chelsea McMillan also helped the cause with 13 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks and three steals.

The Dolphins (5-15, 4-8) dropped their 13th straight road contest after shooting a game-low 26.8 percent (19-71) from the floor. They were 1-for-12 from beyond the arc, but managed to shoot 66.7 percent at the free throw line.

“It’s the same thing every road game,” said JU head coach Jill Dunn. “We do well until a certain point before we struggle and play ourselves out of the game. Once we get over this hump, we can get this monkey off our backs. All we can do is work hard and hope for good things to happen.”

Senior forward Crystal Grable and junior guard Gigi Thomas each finished with nine points to lead the Dolphins, while freshman guard Drameka Griggs added eight points.

With the scored tied at 36 in the second half, Copney scored the next nine points for USC Upstate to give the Spartans a 45-36 lead. The Dolphins cut the deficit to seven with a jumper by George (10:10) before McMillan and Copney helped extend the Spartans advantage to 52-41 (8:23).

A jumper by sophomore guard Valerie Jones got the Dolphins to 57-47 with less than three minutes remaining, but USC Upstate quashed any comeback to hold onto the win.

The Spartans got seven points each from Courtney Hawkins and Lesley Daniel, while Christine Nyobe recorded a game-best 11 rebounds. Hawkins also registered six assists.

After falling behind 7-4 early in the first half, the Dolphins used an 18-2 run capped by Thomas three-pointer to take a 22-9 lead (7:57). The Dolphins went quiet for a while as the Spartans pulled within three, 26-23, on a layup by Nyobe (3:10). Junior forward Taneskei Richardson gave the Dolphins a 30-25 on a layup at 1:32, but the Spartans tied it at 30 all on two free throws by Lauren McRoberts to end the half.

Richardson finished with seven points and a team-best eight boards to round out JU’s night.

The Dolphins continue their road trip on Saturday when they head to Nashville to play Belmont at 3 p.m. They will close the trip with Lipscomb on Feb. 8 at 8 p.m.