Saturday Showdown Set For Former Peach Belt Rivals
12/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 10, 2008
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Complete Kennesaw State Game Notes in PDF Format 
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Although the USC Upstate women's basketball team narrowly fell in its Atlantic Sun Conference season opener on Dec. 3 at Mercer, the team is still out to one of its best starts in school history. The Spartans will look to continue its strong start and get back in the win column on Saturday when it heads to Kennesaw State for a 7 p.m. showdown with its former Peach Belt Conference rival.
Upstate (4-1 overall, 1-0 A-Sun) will look to a much-improved post presence that includes one of the conference's top scorers in sophomore Chelsea McMillan (14.8 points, fourth). The team also has the conference's top 3-point threats in Courtney Hawkins, Lesley Daniel and Kendra Wallace, all of whom have hit more than 40 percent of their shots from downtown.
Kennesaw State (1-4 overall, 0-0 A-Sun), predicted to finish second in the A-Sun Preseason polls, is out to a rough start, but the Owls do have four players averaging at least 9.0 points per game and the team is coming off its first win of the season, a 64-58 triumph over Troy on Dec. 3.
Notes
• This is the first in a four-game, seven-day stretch for the Spartans.
• Upstate currently leads the A-Sun in scoring, averaging 78.2 points per game.
• Upstate also leads the conference in 3-point field goal percentage, hitting 48.5 percent (33-for-68) through the first five games.
• Freshman Kendra Wallace is just three 3-pointers shy of entering the top 10 in Upstate's freshman record book. She has hit 13 treys this year.
• Freshmen Kendra Wallace and Lesley Daniel have each hit at least one 3-pointer in each of the last four games.
• Senior Ebony Johnson needs nine rebounds to become the 15th player at Upstate with 400 in a career.
• Senior Courtney Bradley is one assist shy of the school's NCAA-era assists record of 335 set by Angelina Gordon from 1994-97.
• Sophomore Chelsea McMillan scored a team season-high 23 points at Mercer on Dec. 3.
• The last time the Spartans won a game in Georgia was on Jan. 21, 2006 at North Georgia.
Fresh Buckets
Through the first five games of the season, Upstate's top-scoring offense in the A-Sun has been led by its freshmen. The trio of Lesley Daniel, Chelsey Peterson and Kendra Wallace are averaging a combined 26.6 points per game, more than any of other academic class. The trio is also the most productive class per player, as the two juniors average a combined 8.6 points while the freshman have averaged 8.9 points per game.
Daniel, a 3-point specialist and a back-up point guard, is averaging 8.0 points per game. Peterson, an athletic forward that has moved right into the post rotation, is averaging 6.2 points per game and Wallace, another 3-point specialist, is averaging 12.4 points per game.
Presents From Santa (Fe)
Upstate was led by career-highs from its two Santa Fe (Fla.) Community College transfers in their Atlantic Sun Conference debut on Dec. 3 at Mercer. Sophomore Chelsea McMillan posted 23 points and added five rebounds and three steals. McMillan hit 8-of-13 from the field and also went 6-for-10 from the line. Junior Kolesia Richardson, a point guard, finished with 14 points thanks to a perfect 8-for-8 night from the free throw line. She also added five rebounds.
The former Lady Saints transferred to Upstate after helping Santa Fe to a 20-8 finish in the Mid-Florida Conference. McMillan earned First Team All-Mid Florida honors and Richardson served as the team captain.
Wallace Way Downtown
After not hitting a 3-pointer in her first collegiate game, freshman Kendra Wallace has averaged 3.25 treys in her last four games, including draining four from downtown at Mercer on Dec. 3. Wallace, a three-time First Team West Virginia All-State selection at Nitro High School, also hit five 3-pointers in an 87-70 win over Charleston Southern on Nov. 20. The 5-9 freshman is 12th in the A-Sun in scoring (12.4) and second in 3-pointers made per game (2.60). She is also third in the league in 3-point field goal percentage, hitting 50 percent (13-for-26) of her attempts this year.
Hawk Eyes A-Sun Player of the Week
Playing on the largest stage of her career on Nov. 25, junior Courtney Hawkins gave one of her finest performances as she scored 22 points to lead the USC Upstate women's basketball team to a come-from-behind 73-63 win over IUPUI at Conseco Fieldhouse, the home of the NBA's Indiana Pacers and the WNBA's Indiana Fever. For her efforts in the game, Hawkins earned the Atlantic Sun Conference's Player of the Week award, the conference office in Macon, Ga., announced Monday.
