Spartans Release 2008-09 Women's Basketball Schedule
7/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
July 14, 2008
Click here to view the 2008-09 USC Upstate Women's Basketball Schedule
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - USC Upstate head women's basketball coach Tammy George has good reason to be excited, with the return of healthy senior guards Courtney Bradley (Columbia, S.C./Dutch Fork) and Ebony Johnson (Columbia, S.C./Ridge View) to the lineup for the 2008-09 season after both had surgeries earlier this year. Plus, the Spartans' schedule also features a non-conference game at South Carolina and two games in Cozumel, Mexico, George announced on Monday.
"We are very excited about a number of things about the upcoming season," George, who is entering her fourth year at Upstate, said. "First, we are healthy again and that is going to have a major impact this season. Second, we feel we have a very competitive schedule, one that will provide some very tough challenges in the likes of an NCAA Tournament team in Oral Roberts, a 20-win team in Oakland and Virginia Tech and South Carolina, who finished .500 last year in two of the best conferences in women's basketball."
The Spartans will keep a local flair to their non-conference schedule in 2008-09, as they look to develop rivalries with other South Carolina Division I programs, beginning with the season-opener on Nov. 14 against fellow provisional Division I member Presbyterian in Clinton, S.C. The Spartans will also play at South Carolina on Dec. 16, heading to the main campus for the first time in school history.
"We didn't intentionally try to schedule so many South Carolina teams," George said, "but it is something that will certainly help increase our program's visibility across the state, as we will play against a team from the low-country, two from the center of the state and also against Presbyterian. I think what can really be special about it is that it gives a chance for our fans to travel."
Upstate plays three non-conference games at the Hodge Center this season, beginning with a game against NAIA-school Montreat (Nov. 17), the lone non-Division I team on the schedule. Upstate also hosts host Charleston Southern (Nov. 20) and South Carolina State (Jan. 6) in in-state rivalry games at the Hodge Center.
The Spartans will also once again travel to the furthest points north and south in school history, as they head to Indianapolis, Ind., for a game with IUPUI on Nov. 25 and also head out of the country for the first time in school history when they play defending Summit League champion Oral Roberts (Dec. 19) and Oakland (Dec. 20) in Cozumel, Mexico as part of a classic-format tournament.
The Spartans also will play a double round-robin, 20-game Atlantic Sun Conference schedule beginning on Dec. 3 when they travel to Mercer. The conference slate features a home game against all 10 other conference programs - North Florida (Jan. 3), Jacksonville (Jan. 5), Lipscomb (Jan. 15), Belmont (Jan. 17), Campbell (Jan. 24), Florida Gulf Coast (Feb. 5), Stetson (Feb. 7), East Tennessee State (Feb. 23), Mercer (Feb. 26) and Kennesaw State (Feb. 28) - and a road game against all 10 programs - Mercer (Dec. 3), KSU (Dec. 13), Stetson (Jan. 8), FGCU (Jan. 10), ETSU (Jan. 26), UNF (Jan. 29), Jacksonville (Jan. 31), Belmont (Feb. 12), Lipscomb (Feb. 14) and Campbell (Feb. 21).
"Having been through the Atlantic Sun Conference schedule once now, I am looking forward to our second trip through the league," George said. "We feel, going into the season, that we are going to make tremendous strides this year in conference play."
The USC Upstate women's basketball team finished its first season of Division I play in 2007-08 with a 5-24 overall record and a 1-15 mark in the Atlantic Sun Conference, but it does return junior Courtney Hawkins (Greer, S.C./Greer), who led the conference in scoring, averaging 16.4 points per game. 2008-09 USC Upstate Spartans Women's Basketball Schedule
