Jan. 8, 2009

Final Stats

DeLAND, Fla. - On Tuesday night in Spartanburg, it was the freshman that led the way, scoring 55 points in the USC Upstate women's basketball team's win over S.C. State. On Thursday, it was the Spartan veterans, led by senior Courtney Bradley (Columbia, S.C./Dutch Fork) and her two free throws with 4.5 seconds left that lifted Upstate to a 57-54 win over Stetson in Atlantic Sun Conference action at the Edmunds Center.

"It was a good basketball game," Upstate head coach Tammy George said. "Our offense struggled, but our defense answered the bell. We were able to keep Stetson from getting into any rhythm all night and we were able to pull the game out at the free throw line. I am very happy we got out first conference road win."

The Spartans (7-6 overall, 2-3 A-Sun) won the first road A-Sun game in school history, thanks to the play of its veterans. Sophomore Sam Frost (Baltimore, Md./North Greenville) hit the front end of two free throws to give Upstate a 55-54 lead with 1:22 left. The Hatters (6-8 overall, 3-2 A-Sun) drew the shot clock down, using much of the clock before Brittany Carrannante turned around for a jumper from the baseline where senior Ebony Johnson's (Columbia, S.C./Ridge View) hand was waiting for the ball, rejecting the ball out of bounds.

"I just had my hands up," Johnson said of the blocked shot, "and I knew I had to stop her. She had a good block on me earlier and I wanted to get her back. I got the perfect opportunity to do it."

The Spartans missed a 3-pointer on their next possession and the Hatters' Ashli Jackson was fouled with 7.1 seconds left as she went in for layup at the basket. She missed the first free throw attempt and Upstate called timeout. The icing worked, as Jackson missed the second shot and sophomore Chelsea McMillan (Quincy, Fla./Santa Fe C.C.) grabbed the rebound, passing outside to Bradley, who was fouled with 4.5 ticks left.

Bradley stepped to the line and hit both free throws and Stetson could barely get a wild 3-point attempt off as time expired under the pressure of Bradley and junior Courtney Hawkins (Greer, S.C./Greer), ending the game.

"Ebony said, `No pressure, but you better make it," Bradley said of the free throws. "We didn't want to go to overtime. Everybody was sore, everybody was hurting. When I hit that first throw, it gave me some confidence to hit the second one."

Down 46-41 with 8:35 left, the Spartans ended the game on a 16-8 run, started by two free throws from junior Kolesia Richardson (Mary Esther, Fla./Santa Fe C.C.). A jumper by McMillan drew the Spartans within a point and she gave the Spartans the lead with 5:58 left after two free throws.

Jessica Connor answered with a layup for Stetson, but Bradley hit a 3-pointer from the right side to take a 50-48 lead with 5:17 left. A Hatter free throw cut the lead to one, but Hawkins answered by draining a three that was set up by a double-team on freshman Kendra Wallace (Hurricane, W.Va./Nitro).

The Hatters answered in the form of Sharnessa Smith, who scored five straight points, completing a traditional 3-point play with 2:44 left to give Stetson a 54-53 lead. Seventeen seconds later, Johnson tied the game with a free throw, setting up the final moments.

The Spartans started to get hot from outside, using a 3-pointer from Wallace to tie the game and two from Richardson to take a 36-33 lead with 12:47 left. However, the Hatters answered, using a 3-point play from Sharnesha Smith and six points from Jessica Bivins to take a 46-41 lead with 8:35 left.

The Hatters started the second half on a 6-0 run with all the points coming courtesy of Smith, as the Hatter guard capped the run by floating through the lane on a fast break for a layup, forcing a Spartan timeout. Upstate responded well, scoring six unanswered points of their own before the next media timeout, with Johnson starting the rally with an 18-footer. Frost followed with a layup and Richardson scored on a fastbreak layup to bring Upstate within three at 30-27 with 15:49 left.

The Spartans and Hatters each struggled offensively in the first half, with the two teams combining for 34 turnovers in the half. The turnovers kept both teams from taking a definitive lead.

Upstate looked to put some distance in the game as Johnson hit a jumper at the elbow and Frost hit a 3-pointer to give Upstate a 12-8 lead with 10:33 left. The Hatters came back to tie the game with 10:15 remaining in the half after a turnover on the Hatters' end led to a layup from Jessica Conner.

Upstate's response, though, was a 7-0 run, started by a trifecta from Wallace and finished by fast-break layups from Hawkins and freshman Chelsey Peterson (Irmo, S.C./Dutch Fork), giving the Spartans a 19-12 lead with 6:14 left.

The Hatters ended the half on a 12-2 run, though, as 3-pointers from Conner and Jessica Bivins capping off the half and sending Stetson into the locker room with a 24-21 lead.

Richardson led the Spartans with 12 points, two 3-pointers, five assists and two rebounds. Frost added 10 points, five rebounds, three blocks, two assists and two steals and Wallace finished with seven points, a team-high six rebounds and three assists. Hawkins posted eight points, three assists and three steals. Johnson finished with five points, a game-high four steals and three blocks.

Bradley, less than a year removed from surgery for a torn ACL, finished with five points, two rebounds and an assist in 22 minutes. She was on the court for 16 of the second half's 20 minutes as the team's point guard.

"It's been a lot of hard work coming back through rehab," Bradley said, "but I knew I just had to work to get through it. To gain more minutes as the games go on, it shows I am working hard to get back out there."

Smith led the Hatters with 18 points, three steals and two assists and Connor added 10 points and 13 steals. Bivens notched nine points and three assists.

"It felt real good to get the win," Johnson said. The whole time, I felt in my heart that we would win. I think we earned it. We weren't shooting too well, but we made up for it on the defensive end. Defense has won a lot of our games this year. When we haven't been shooting that well, we have made up for it on the other end."

Upstate wraps up its Florida swing with a 4:15 p.m. Atlantic Sun Conference matchup Saturday at Florida Gulf Coast. After that the Spartans return home for a 7 p.m. game against Lipscomb on Thursday at the Hodge Center.

Notes
- Sophomore forward Sam Frost posted an assist for the fifth straight game, as she finished with two helpers.
- Freshman Kendra Wallace has hit 3-pointers in 11 of 13 games this season for the Spartans.
- The Spartans hit eight three pointers in the game, led by two a piece from Wallace, Hawkins and Richardson. The Spartans managed five against the Hatters in their lone other meeting on Feb. 11, 2008, with sophomore Tiffany Whiting and Hawkins leading the team with two treys in that game.
- The Spartans are now 1-1 all-time against Stetson, evening the series with tonight wins. Both games have occurred in DeLand.
- The Spartans are 4-6 all-time on Jan. 8.
- Junior Kolesia Richardson has led the Spartans in scoring four times this season, leading the Spartans to a 2-2 record in those games.
- With her four steals, senior Ebony Johnson moved into a three-way tie for 16th in school history with 110 career steals.
- With her eight points, junior Courtney Hawkins moved within 11 points of becoming the 13th player in school history to reach 800 career points.
- With her two 3-pointers, freshman Kendra Wallace moved into a tie for eighth with Sarah Jansen (1999-00) in the Upstate freshman record book with 29 trifectas.