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11/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 15, 2009
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Complete Longwood Game Notes in PDF Format 
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - After a solid 78-47 win over Division II North Greenville on Friday night in the season opener, the USC Upstate women's basketball team will look to win its sixth straight game in the month of November on Monday night, as the Spartans face their first Division I opponent of the season in Longwood.
For the Spartans (1-0), the game will serve as a learning experience to see the true playing rotation after all 11 players on the active roster on Friday night played at least 13 minutes Friday, including an abbreviated 15 minutes from junior Chelsea McMillan, who posted 12 points and 12 rebounds against the Crusaders.
The Lancers (0-1), meanwhile, will try to rebound after a 77-55 loss to Virginia Tech in the season opener. Leading the way for the Lancers is senior Becky Fernandes, who scored 12 points in the opener and led the team with an 8.9 point-per-game average.
The game will also reignite a rivalry that has been stagnant since March 10, 1995, when then-USC Spartanburg knocked off the Lancers, 73-53, in an NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional game.
Spartan Notes
• The Spartans are 2-2 all-time on Nov. 16, last beating Charleston Southern on the road, 80-68, in 2007, the first win in the program's D-I era.
• The last time Upstate won a game in Virginia was against Longwood on March 10, 1995, a 73-53 win in Norfolk, Va., in the Division II Tournament.
• Senior Courtney Hawkins became the shortest player in school history to reach 1,000 career points on Nov. 13, as the 5-4 guard posted 13 points in the game.
• Sophomore Kendra Wallace became the eighth player in school history to reach 75 career 3-pointers against North Greenville.
• Sophomore Chelsea McMillan is currently seventh in school history with 45 career blocked shots, just one shy of passing former teammate Ebony Johnson.
• Freshman Christine Nyobe became the first player in program history from Africa, as the Cameroonian scored a point and blocked two shots against North Greenville.
• Head coach Tammy George needs one win to reach 90 in her seven-year career.
Hawk's Grand Performance
Senior Courtney Hawkins became the 12th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points as she secured the fourth double-double of her career with 13 points and 10 rebounds, leading Upstate to a 78-47 win over North Greenville on Nov. 13 at the G.B. Hodge Center.
Hawkins stopped-and-popped on a jumper with 3:30 left for her 13th point of the night, helping her cross the mark and give her 1,001 points in her career. The 5-4 guard is one of the most dynamic scorers in Upstate's history, leading the Atlantic Sun Conference in scoring as a sophomore in 2007-08, averaging 16.4 points per game.
Next Up
Now that senior Courtney Hawkins has reached the 1,000-point mark, she can now set her sights on moving up the career scoring list. She is 97 points shy of reaching the top 10 in school history and needs 40 points to reach Stephanie Feyes' mark of 1,041 points, scored from 2001-05.
All-Time Thievery
Senior Courtney Hawkins enters Monday's game on the cusp of entering the career top 10 in steals at Upstate, having posted 155 in her career, just one shy of 10th. A play-making guard, Hawkins has routinely been assigned an opponent's top guard and been asked to stop her. Hawkins needs just 45 steals during her senior year to become the third player in school history to reach 200 career thefts.
The Downtown Train
The 2009-10 Spartans already have a pair of players in the all-time top 10 in career 3-pointers and each will look to become just the fifth and sixth players to reach 100 career 3-pointers in an Upstate uniform during the season. Senior Courtney Hawkins is currently sixth in school history with 91 threes, needing just nine more to reach the mark. Sophomore Kendra Wallace, after hitting 72 as a freshman, is already eighth in school history after passing Sarah Jansen (1999-04) by hitting three trifectas in the season opener. She needs 25 to reach 100 career trifectas.
Rejected
With her three blocked shots in the season opener against North Greenville on Nov. 13, junior Chelsea McMillan moved into seventh place on Upstate's all-time list, as the 6-0 forward from East Gadsden, Fla., now has 45 career blocked shots. McMillan, in just her second year with the program, will look to keep moving up the all-time list, as she enters Monday's game needing just one block to tie Ebony Johnson (2005-09) for sixth in school history.
McMillan Earns Slot On Preseason All-A-Sun Team
One of only three players in the A-Sun to finish in the top 10 in scoring and rebounding in 2008-09, junior Chelsea McMillan landed a spot on the Preseason All-Atlantic Sun Conference team, the conference office announced on Oct. 7. McMillan finished 10th in the A-Sun in scoring (12.2) and third in rebounding (7.8) per game as a sophomore. A tough player with a sweet touch, McMillan hit 44 percent of her shots from the field and 83 percent (second in the A-Sun) from the charity stripe as a sophomore and will be counted on to increase her playing time (21.8 minutes per game) as a sophomore. McMillan was also a force inside, finishing third in the A-Sun with an average of 1.50 blocked shots per game.
Pitman's Post
Junior Kim Pitman gave the USC Upstate post a needed boost on Friday night against North Greenville. One of only two players with collegiate experience in the post, Pitman tied for the team lead in scoring in the second half with six points and she notched seven rebounds, which currently puts her in ninth in the A-Sun in the category.. The 6-2 junior has been stung by the injury bug several times during her first two years at Upstate, but will have several opportunities to compete for playing time. In her first two seasons, Pitman has started 10 games and appeared in 42, averaging 1.5 points and 2.0 rebounds per game.
Tammy's Totals
Head coach Tammy George, in her fifth year at USC Upstate, is moving up the school's career wins list. The sixth coach of 14 at Upstate to post three 10-win seasons, George moved ahead of Carmon Nelon (1995-99) and into fourth on Upstate's career coaching victories chart with the win over North Greenville on Nov. 13. Now George, who has 46 career wins, has her sights set on the third slot, currently held by Tammy Holder, who won 50 games from 1988-91. George, a 1993 graduate of UNC Charlotte, coached Brevard for two seasons, compiling a 43-21 record before moving to Upstate in 2005-06, when she led the team to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time since 1995.
A Historic Match-Up
The last time Longwood and USC Upstate met, in 1995, it was the end of a dynasty for the then-USC Spartanburg Lady Rifles, and the start of one for Longwood. The Lady Rifles, who had just wrapped up their second straight Peach Belt Tournament title, met the Lancers, who had earned the first bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament in school history, in the first round of the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional at Norfolk State's Joseph Echols Arena. The Lady Rifles, led by third-year head coach Peggy Sells, got 19 points each from Sherry Clark, the Peach Belt Tournament MVP, and Meredith Sisson, who went on to play in the WNBA. Longwood was led by 13 points from Nikki Hall, as the Lady Rifles outscored the Lancers by 16 points in the second half to take a 73-53 win.
