Jan. 31, 2009

Final Stats

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Led by double-doubles from sophomore Chelsea McMillan (Quincy, Fla./Santa Fe C.C.) (15 points, 10 rebounds) and junior Courtney Hawkins (Greer, S.C./Greer) (17 points, 10 rebounds), the USC Upstate women's basketball team fought back from a 10-0 deficit, erasing it by halftime and then scored 45 points in the second half en route to a 69-64 win over Jacksonville in Atlantic Sun Conference action on Saturday at Swisher Gymnasium.

"It was a total team win," Upstate women's basketball coach Tammy George said. "I am proud of how the team fought back from a frustrating loss on Thursday at UNF. I am proud of how the team handled itself after falling behind by so much so early (Saturday). They showed a lot of grit and determination and played like they wanted to win."

Senior Ebony Johnson (Columbia, S.C./Ridge View) lobbed the ball from the foul line where it met Hawkins on the fly near midcourt. The junior outran the defense and swooped in for the uncontested layup, giving the Upstate (10-10 overall, 5-7 A-Sun) a seven-point lead with 11:51 left in the second half. The layup capped an 11-0 run that changed the outlook of the game, as Jacksonville (11-10 overall, 7-5 A-Sun) spent the last 12 minutes playing the same game of catch-up that the Spartans had to play in the first half.

Upstate took its first lead of the game on a banked in reverse layup from McMillan as the second half opened. The two teams battled through three ties when a 3-pointer from Jessica George and a jumper from Crystal Grable gave Jacksonville a 35-31 lead with 16:28 left. After a Spartan turnover and a missed Dolphin jumper, freshman Chelsey Peterson (Irmo, S.C./Dutch Fork), a 53 percent free throw shooter, hit both of her free throws, igniting the 11-0 run. The teams swapped missed shots and the Dolphins missed two free throws, helping a 3-pointer from freshman Kendra Wallace (Hurricane, W.Va./Nitro) give the Spartans a 36-35 lead with 14:40 left.

"We came out with a lot more energy and did what we needed to do on defense," Wallace said. "We didn't have as many turnovers and their turnovers helped us create a lot of offense."

After a Jacksonville turnover, McMillan hit a jumper in the paint and following another turnover, McMillan connected on another jumper on an assist from junior Kolesia Richardson (Mary Esther, Fla./Santa Fe C.C.), drawing cheers from nearly 40 of their family members in the crowd, setting up Hawkins layup and giving Upstate a seven-point lead.

"She's just a beast in the post," Richardson said of McMillan. "She's just a great player. If you throw the ball anywhere she will go and get it and try to score."

The Spartans grew the lead to 10 thanks to a 3-pointer from Wallace and a jumper by McMillan, making it 49-39 with 10:07 left. Jacksonville cut the lead to five with 6:14 left, but another 3-pointer from Wallace made it 54-46 with 5:27 left. Two free throws from Hawkins made brought the lead back to 10 and a layup from McMillan gave the Spartans' their largest lead of the game at 59-48 with 2:27 left.

Jacksonville tried a frantic comeback, as a 3-pointer from Regina Omoite cut the lead to four and three free throws from Omoite cut the lead to three with 24 seconds left. After a foul committed on Hawkins left her injured, the Spartans missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and the Dolphins' Jasmin Coleman got an open look for three, but it bounded off the rim and into Wallace's hands. Wallace missed both free throws, though and Omoite tried a three with six seconds left, but it was blocked by Johnson. Richardson grabbed the rebound with two seconds left and converted both free throws on the resulting foul to give Upstate a 69-64 lead and close out the game.

"We just kept our poise and slowed the ball down because time was on our side," Richardson said. "We were smart with the ball at the end and that's the most important thing we could've done. It was really nice to have our families there. Anytime you can come home and have all your family there, that gives you more encouragement to want to do your best. The bench was in it, but to have that extra motivation, it was really nice."

The first half turned into a battle of attrition for both squads, as they combined for 29 turnovers and a 19-for-68 performance (28 percent) from the floor. The rough start helped combine for 18 points off turnover.

Upstate fell into an early 10-0 hole as it was held off the scoreboard for the first eight minutes of the half before a jumper from McMillan swished through the net. The Dolphins couldn't expand the lead, however, with Upstate cutting the lead to six points after a fast break jumper from Wallace. The Dolphins got the lead back to eight on their own break, with a jumper from Jessica George in the lane.

The Spartans took over in the last five minutes of the half, however, with a force-of-will banker by Richardson igniting a closing 11-3 run to leave the game knotted at 24 as the teams' headed to the locker room. Free throws helped the Spartans back into the game, with two from Wallace, two from Peterson and one from Hawkins cutting the lead to 21-20 with 1:25 left. After a 3-pointer from George, the Spartans closed the half with a layup from Richardson and a second-chance jumper that swished through as the half neared expiration by Hawkins.

Wallace finished with 17 points, two rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. McMillan added two blocks along with Johnson and sophomore Sam Frost (Baltimore, Md./North Greenville University). Richardson finished with eight points, four rebounds and two assists and Peterson finished with six points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Jacksonville was led by 14 points and 14 rebounds from Desarae Johnson and George added 11 points, four rebounds and four assists. Omoite added 11 points, two rebounds and an assist.

Upstate is back in action on Monday when it steps out of conference for the last time in the 2008-09 season, facing the Atlantic Coast Conference's Virginia Tech in a 7 p.m. contest at Cassell Coliseum.

Notes
- Jacksonville acknowledged longtime N.C. State head coach Kay Yow, who passed away after a 22-year battle with breast cancer last Saturday, with a moment of silence before the game. Both coaching staffs wore upside down pink ribbons in honor of the coach.
- Junior Courtney Hawkins and sophomore Chelsea McMillan's double-doubles signified the first time in the DI era that two Spartans finished with double-doubles ... Hawkins double-double was the third of her career and second of the season, also doing so in the season-opener at Presbyterian ... McMillan's was her third in six games, also doing so against Lipscomb and Campbell.
- The Spartans are 2-5 all-time on Jan. 31 ... They are 0-0 at Swisher Gymnasium.
- Senior Cherale Powell started her first game since starting against ETSU on March 1, 2008, a stretch of 19 games.
- Freshman Kendra Wallace blocked her second career shot in the first half of the game.
- Freshman Kendra Wallace has hit 3-pointers in 18-of-20 games this season.
- With 49 3-pointers this season, Wallace is one trey away from becoming the sixth player in program history to hit 50 in a season.
- Senior Ebony Johnson posted two blocked shots, giving her 16 on the season, a new career high. She had previously rejected 14 shots in a season twice.
- Senior Ebony Johnson scored her first points in three games, converting two free throws with 1:08 left ... Johnson entered the game shooting 68 percent from the line.
- The Spartans were outrebounded, 53-46. It was the eighth straight game they lost the battle of the boards.
- Head coach Tammy George moved into a tie for fifth in the Upstate record book with her 42nd win in four years at the school ... She is the sixth coach to post three 10-win seasons at the school.