Jan. 10, 2009

Final Stats

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Just as free throws helped the USC Upstate women's basketball team win on Thursday night at Stetson, it was free throws on Saturday that ended up lifting Florida Gulf Coast to a 70-61 victory over Upstate at Alico Arena. The Eagles finished 25-for-45 (55.6 percent) from the line, thanks to 33 Spartan fouls, while Upstate took hit 15-of-24 (62.5 percent) from the charity stripe, using 16 Eagle fouls.

"It was a tough, physical game," Upstate head coach Tammy George said. "FGCU was able to get an advantage because (Adrianne) McNally took 24 free throws herself and we had 24 as a team. Gulf Coast was able to not only be aggressive, but take advantage of a lot of our aggressiveness, and that helped them score 10 more points off turnover and 11 more second-chance points."

The Spartans (7-7 overall, 2-4 A-Sun) fought hard against the Eagles (10-4 overall, 3-3 A-Sun), shooting 43 percent (21-for-49) while the Eagles shot 38 percent (21-for-55).

Sophomore Courtney Hawkins (Greer, S.C./Greer) broke out of a three-game slide without posting 10 points by scoring 22, hitting 6-of-9 from the field and 8-of-9 from the free throw line. She also notched five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Sophomore Chelsea McMillan (Quincy, Fla./Santa Fe C.C.) posted 11 points, four rebounds and three blocked shots.

With the score tied at 46, the Eagles went on a 16-3 run, taking the lead on a 3-pointer from Brittany Brown. Courtney Chihil added five straight points and McNally scored four more during the run to help them take a 62-51 lead with 3:51 left.

Coming out of the last media timeout, the Spartans cut the lead to five after a 3-pointer from Hawkins and a layup by Hawkins made it 64-59 with 2:37 left. However, two Spartan fouls led to four free throws from Lyles, helping FGCU to take a 68-51 lead with 1:51 left.

The teams traded buckets in the second half until Hawkins hit two free throws to take a 35-32 lead. The Eagles fought back. Though, with Chelsea Lyles scoring five straight points. A layup from McMillan tied the game at 37 and the teams fought back-and-forth until the score was tied at 46 with 11:41 left.

With the score tied at five, Upstate went on a 7-2 run, led by five straight points from McMillan to take a 12-7 lead before the Eagles closed the gap with two layups. A jumper from senior Kelly Westfield (St. Petersburg, Fla./St. Petersburg College) kept the Eagles from taking the lead, and helped ignite another 10-2 run that included a traditional 3-point play from Hawkins and a trifecta from that used every part of the rim before rolling in giving Upstate a 22-13 lead with 8:30 left.

A 9-0 run helped the Eagles tie the game at 22 with 5:22 left, thanks to four points from Chelsea Lyles in the run. A 3-pointer from Shannon Murphy put the Eagles up 26-24, but a driving layup from Hawkins tied the game with 2:42 left in the half. The teams traded points the rest of the way until a fastbreak layup with 1:00 left helped the Spartans take a one-point lead into the locker room.

Westfield notched a season-high six points to go with three rebounds. Freshman Lesley Daniel (Collinwood, Tenn./Collinwood) posted five straight points, including hitting her first 3-pointer in seven games.

McNally led the Eagles with 21 points and 11 rebounds, adding four assists and three steals. She hit 10-of-24 free throws during the game. Lyles notched 21 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Brown notched 10 points, three rebounds and two assists.

The Spartans return home for a 7 p.m. A-Sun game against Lipscomb on Thursday at the Hodge Center. They host Belmont on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the Hodge Center as a part of a doubleheader with the men's team. The men tip at 1 p.m. against the Bruins on Saturday.

Notes
- The Spartans are 7-6 all-time on Jan. 10.
- Senior Kelly Westfield has started three straight games and has scored in three of the last four games.
- With her 22 points, junior Courtney Hawkins became the 13th player in school history to reach 800 career points. Hawkins now has 811 career points.
- Freshman Kendra Wallace has hit 3-pointers in 12 of 14 games this season. With 30 3-pointers this season, Wallace is now eighth in the school's freshman record book.