USC Upstate Enters New Era With Tough Challenge At SEC's Kentucky
11/8/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 8, 2007
Complete Kentucky Game Notes in PDF Format 
SPARTANBURG, S.C - On Saturday night, Kentucky will usher in the USC Upstate women's basketball team to a new era, as the Wildcats host the Spartans in their first game in Division I at the legendary Memorial Coliseum.
The Spartans welcome 11 newcomers into the fold of a team that is two years removed from an appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament. Under third-year head coach Tammy George, the Spartans have three experienced players in the backcourt, including junior Courtney Bradley, who averaged 8.1 points and finished sixth in the Division II Peach Belt Conference, averaging 4.43 assists per game. Junior Ebony Johnson is the team's leading returning scorer (8.3 ppg) and rebounder (6.1 rpg) and sophomore Courtney Hawkins averaged 7.8 points and 3.0 rebounds as a freshman.
New Kentucky head coach Matthew Mitchell, a former assistant at UK, helped recruit the senior class at Kentucky before moving on to coach at Morehead State. That senior class is one of the most accomplished in school history, including two 1,000-point scorers Samantha Mahoney and Sarah Elliott. The group has won 60 games and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 as well as two WNITs.
Spartan Notables
• This is the first time that USC Upstate will play a game in the state of Kentucky.
• This is the furthest north the Upstate women's basketball team has ever played. Previously, the furthest upward the Spartans had travelled was Concord in Athens, W.V., 253 miles from Upstate. Lexington is 344 miles from Spartanburg.
• Kentucky, which played in the WNIT in 2007, is the first of seven teams the Spartans play in 2007-08 that reached the postseason last season along with NCAA teams Georgia Tech, UNC Asheville and Belmont (twice) and WNIT team ETSU (twice).
• Junior guard Cherale Powell was an NJCAA Division I scoring champ as a freshman at Wilkes Community College, averaging 27.7 points per game.
• The Spartans feature two 2006-07 All-Florida Community College Activities Association selections in sophomore Samerria Crowder, a Second Team All-Panhandle selection, and Kelly Westfield, a First Team All-Southern pick.
• Junior Courtney Bradley enters the game five 3-pointers shy of fourth in Upstate's career history and 12 assists shy of seventh.
