The Bucs Stop Here
11/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 19, 2008
ASun.TV | Gametracker
Complete CSU Game Notes in PDF Format 
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Last season, the USC Upstate women's basketball team's performance against Charleston Southern had all the makings of a statement game. Upstate, playing an in-state rival on the road, won its first Division I game and sophomore Courtney Hawkins had her first of several big games on the year, scoring 26 points.
This year, when the Lady Bucs will visit the Hodge Center on Thursday at 7 p.m., the Spartans will look to make another statement as it tries to start 3-0 for the first time since the 1994-95 season.
The Spartans, who have beaten Presbyterian and Montreat early this season, are led by Hawkins, who is averaging 15.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, and sophomore Chelsea McMillan, who is averaging 13.5 points and 6.5 rebounds. Five other players average at least five points a game.
The Lady Bucs are led by Katie Tull, who averages 18.0 points and 4.0 assists per game. Pam Tolbert, who scored 33 points against the Spartans in 2007, also returns. She is averaging 10.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
Notes
• Upstate is 5-5 all-time on Nov. 20, last dropping a 74-71 decision at Tusculum in 2004.
• The last time the Spartans played Charleston Southern at home was in 1986, with then-USC Spartanburg defeating then-Baptist, 70-59.
• Junior Courtney Hawkins needs seven points to become the 19th player in school history to reach 700 career points.
• Junior Courtney Hawkins became the first Spartan to reach 500 points in the DI-era with her 16 points against Montreat.
• The Spartans won back-to-back games for the first time in the DI era with their season-opening wins against Presbyterian and Montreat.
• Upstate had four players finish in double-figures on Monday against Montreat for the first time since its 2007 matchup with Charleston Southern.
• Senior Courtney Bradley is six assists shy of the school's NCAA-era assists record of 335 set by Angelina Gordon from 1994-97.
• Sophomore Sam Frost has posted back-to-back three-steal games to start her career as a Spartan.
Moving On Up
Junior Courtney Hawkins jumped two slots on Upstate's career scoring chart and entered the top 20 in Upstate's season opener at Presbyterian on Nov. 15, 2008. Hawkins scored 14 points to move into 19th place with 677 points. In the process, she passed Carol Turano (1984-88) and Meredith Sisson (1993-95) and now has her sights set on Sherry Clark (1993-95), who posted 700 points in a then-USC Spartanburg uniform.
A Look At The Record Book
With five assists in just 14 minutes on Monday against Montreat, senior Courtney Bradley has her eyes firmly squared on leaving a lasting mark on the Upstate career record book. The 5-5 point guard is third in school history with 329 assists, just six shy of Angelina Gordon's mark of 335 set from 1994-97. Gordon's 335 assists are the school's NCAA-era record, as the school's all-time leader, Suzanne Graham, played when the school was a member of the NAIA.
Bradley's 104 career 3-pointers is just 18 shy of Dawn Bowden's third-best mark set from 1985-89. Her 537 career points are also just 22 outside the school's top 25.
Money vs. Montreat
The Spartans' 93-52 win over Montreat on Monday night set a number of marks for the team at the Division I level. Some of the records include:
• Most points scored in a game (93)
• Largest margin of vistory (41)
• Highest field goal percentage (.574)
• Highest 3-point field goal percentage (.571)
• Most assists (27)
• Most blocked shots (7)
Upstate's first missed shot in the game was at the 15:53 mark of the first half, after the team already had a 15-3 lead. Within the first 10 minutes, the Spartans had a 35-8 lead, a lead that never fell below 22 points after that.
The Streak Continues
Junior Courtney Hawkins' has kept up the torrid scoring pace that helped the 5-4 Greer, S.C., native lead the A-Sun in scoring in 2007-08, as she has started this season with two double-digit efforts. Hawkins now has scored in double-digits in the last 11 Spartan games. In fact, her 14-point effort at Presbyterian ended a string of nine straight 15-point games.
The one major difference between the end of last season and the start of this season, though, is the amount of time Hawkins has seen on the floor. In the last nine games of 2007-08, Hawkins averaged 37.8 minutes per game. Through the first two games of this season, Hawkins has needed just 20.5 minutes on the floor to average 15 points per game.
Highs In The 90s
The Spartans 93 points against Montreat on Nov. 17 was the first time since a 94-86 win over North Georgia on Jan. 17, 2007 that the Spartans scored 90 points in a game, a span of 43 matches. In all, the Spartans have topped the 90-point mark five times in the Tammy George era, falling only once, a 93-92 loss to West Liberty State, ironically, also on Nov. 17, 2006.
The C Block
Sophomore Chelsea McMillan has proven a needed inside presence for the Spartans early this season. Besides averaging 13.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, she has shown the ability to change the direction of opponents shots. With four blocks against Montreat, including one that flew three rows back into the Hodge Center seats, the Spartan center landed in first among the A-Sun leaders in blocks. McMillan's four blocked shots is the most for Upstate in the DI era and the most since Ebony Johnson swatted four shots at Francis Marion on Jan. 25, 2007.
Pay It Forward
The Spartans posted their first 25-assist game at the Division I level on Monday night against Montreat, as eight players contributed to the cause with helpers. Senior Ebony Johnson led the way with six assists and fellow senior Courtney Bradley added five helpers. Junior Courtney Hawkins added four and both point guards freshmen Lesley Daniel and junior Kolesia Richardson each added three assists. Freshman Kendra Wallace added three helpers and freshman Chelsey Peterson had two. Sophomore Chelsea McMillan rounded out the list with one dime.
A Productive Bench
Through the first two games, the USC Upstate bench has provided for nearly 46 percent (71 of 156) of Upstate's scoring, something made even more impressive considering that the 2007-08 squad provided for only 21 percent of the team's scoring output. The Spartans have been bolstered by the play of freshman Lesley Daniel, who has averaged 8.5 points, and junior Kolesia Richardson, who averages 4.5 points off the bench.
New Faces Downtown
Half of USC Upstate's 10 3-pointers this season have been hit by freshmen. Three-point specialists in high school, Lesley Daniel has connected on three trifectas and Kendra Wallace has hit twice from downtown. Daniel, a backup point guard, has averaged 18.0 minutes per game, averaging 8.5 points, 1.5 assists and a steal per game. Wallace, a starting No. 2 guard, leads the Spartans with an average of 26.5 minutes per game while averaging 7.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.
