USC Upstate women's basketball with Anda Kuzmina

In addition to the dynamic downtown scene, Spartanburg is also home to several universities including the University of South Carolina Upstate (USC Upstate). The public university (formerly known as USC Spartanburg) was founded in 1967, and is one of the fastest growing universities in South Carolina offering both undergraduate and graduate programs.

Last weekend it was a freshman on the USC Upstate women’s basketball team that brought us to the G.B. Hodge Center, the newly-renovated arena that was recently ranked among the best Division I college basketball arenas for game atmosphere and experience. 5’10” guard Anda Kuzmina is a new addition to the team, coming from Rīga and a Latvian team that finished in 8^th place at the European U-20 championship.

The psychology major transferred to USC Upstate from Latvijas Universitāte in 2017, and has already been making headlines; in December she was named ASUN Freshman of the Week. Anda is one of multiple women’s basketball players from Latvia playing in the NCAA in the news: Digna Strautmane (freshman forward @ Syracuse) with Rookie of the Week last week, Kitija Laksa (USF junior guard) receiving the USBWA player of the week honor in Division I last month, and Marta Miščenko (Wingate senior center) earning SAC Player of the Week in December.

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The fast-paced game against the North Florida Ospreys ended in a narrow loss for Upstate, but Anda played for 28 minutes, finishing the game with 8 points and 5 rebounds. The Spartans are currently 6-14, but with 9 games to go this season they still have time to improve their record. Meanwhile, Anda shows promise and we wish her the best in her continued time with the USC Spartans.

USC Upstate: Home to approximately 6,000 students and 340 full-time faculty, it is the largest of the seven colleges and universities in Spartanburg. While we’re familiar with the much smaller Wofford College (due to the Carolina Panthers training camp that takes place there every summer), only Spartanburg Community College comes close in # of students; however the 2-year college has about half the staff of USC Upstate.

For the USC Upstate women’s basketball schedule, click here.

For a complete list of Latvians playing in the NCAA, click here.