Looking For A Sweep In The Old Dominion State
11/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 17, 2009
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Complete Virginia Game Notes in PDF Format 
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Virginia head coach Debbie Ryan will walk the sidelines for the 1,000th time in her 33-year career on Wednesday night, as the USC Upstate women's basketball team will look to upset one of the most prestigious programs in collegiate basketball as it faces No. 12/17 Virginia on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena.
The Spartans (2-0) are coming off one of the most emotional wins in the program's D-I era, as it overcame an 18-point first-half deficit and came back for a convincing 71-59 win over Longwood on Monday night. The team was sparked by freshman Tee'Ara Copney, who scored 16 points and added five steals as she moved into a convincing lead in the A-Sun steals department.
The Cavaliers are also 2-0 this season, having downed UMBC on the road, 68-57, and Manhatten, 86-68. Monica Wright has led the way, averaging 23.0 points, five rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.0 steals per game. Chelsea Shine leads the team in rebounding, averaging 7.5 boards per game.
Spartan Notes
• The Spartans are 1-4 all-time on Nov. 18, last falling to Tusculum, 83-63, in 2007.
• Freshman Tee'Ara Copney's five steals against Longwood tied for the second-best performance in the D-I era.
• Upstate's comeback from an 18-point deficit was the largest margin in the D-I era in which Upstate came back to win a game.
• Four players scored in double-figures for the Spartans against the Lancers (Tee'Ara Copney, 16; Courtney Hawkins, 15; Chelsea McMillan, 15; Koko Richardson, 13).
• Junior Chelsea McMillan is 18 points away from reaching 400 in her career as a Spartan.
• Upstate is 2-0 for the second straight year and the eighth time in school history.
• Junior Chelsea McMillan is currently tied for sixth in school history with 46 career blocked shots, just one shy of passing former teammate Ebony Johnson.
• Head coach Tammy George won the 90th-game in her seven-year career as a head coach on Monday at Longwood.
40 Minutes Strong
The Spartans posted a remarkable comeback on Nov. 13 at Longwood, as the Spartans charged back from an 18-point deficit with 3:40 left in the first back to take a 71-59 win. The comeback is from the largest deficit in the D-I era for the Spartans, although the team has faced large deficits before and come back to win, being down nine points or more five times before storming back.
Tee'Ara's Takeaways
Freshman Tee'Ara Copney found herself listed at the top of the A-Sun in steals after her second career game, thanks to eight steals in those contests. The freshman guard pick-pocketed North Greenville three times and then against Longwood, she had five takeaways. The steals aren't the only remarkable part of Copney's game, as those steals have led to a lot of easy lay-ups, with Copney responsible for 12 of Upstate's 28 fastbreak points this year.
Richardson's Roll
In the last seven games, senior Koko Richardson has been about as hot as any guard on the USC Upstate squad. In six of those games, the senior from Mary Esther, Fla., has posted double figures ins coring. A 5-8 guard that can play anywhere from No. 1 to No. 4, Richardson scored a career-high 18 points at Lipscomb and then followed that by scoring 15 at Campbell, 11 against ETSU and Mercer and 10 against Kennesaw State to end the 2008-09 season. After a six-point game in just 23 minutes against North Greenville, Richardson scored 13 points and added five rebounds in 25 minutes at Longwood. A solid 3-point shooter, Richardson has shot 36 percent (5-for-14) from behind the arc during the run and added a 27-for-39 (69 percent) effort from the charity stripe.
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 82 points shy of reaching the top 10 in school history and needs 25 points to reach Stephanie Feyes' mark of 1,041 points, scored from 2001-05.
A Little History Lesson
During USC Upstate's off day before the Virginia game, the team took a tour of Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello, located just outside of Charlottesville. Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, was also the third President of the United States and the founder of the University of Virginia.
