Spartans Look For Hat Trick On Thursday At Stetson
12/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 16, 2009
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Complete Stetson Game Notes in PDF Format 
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - After a tough loss that saw the USC Upstate women's basketball team hold a lead over Clemson after 30 minutes, the Spartans will look to rebound in the Atlantic Sun Conference opener, as they travel to Stetson for a 7 p.m. showdown.
The Spartans (5-3 overall) are seeking their third straight win over the Hatters, after taking a 56-54 decision from Stetson in DeLand and a 75-61 decision in the Hodge Center during 2008-09. The Spartans were led in those wins by sophomore Kendra Wallace, who averaged 15 points and five rebounds in the wins.
Upstate will also look for another big performance from junior Chelsea McMillan, who posted 20 points and 16 rebounds at Clemson. The 6-0 forward will need a big game to neutralize a deep Stetson post rotation that includes five players that are taller than 6-0.
Stetson (0-7) is led by Daphne Frieson, a transfer from Ole Miss, who averaged 10 points and 7.4 rebounds per contest.
Spartan Notables
• The Spartans are 1-1 all-time on Dec. 17, last falling to Presbyterian, 94-85, in 2006.
• Upstate is 2-11 all-time in the state of Florida.
• With her fifth rebound at Clemson, junior Chelsea McMillan became the 29th player in school history to reach 300 in a career.
• Senior Courtney Hawkins is just one trey away from becoming the fifth player in school history to reach 100 in a career.
• With 165 career steals, senior Courtney Hawkins is just four swipes from sixth in school history, where Joey Paugh (1989-93) stands.
• Five Upstate players are in the A-Sun's top 30 in scoring (junior Chelsea McMillan, fourth, 15.0; senior Courtney Hawkins, 15th, 11.4; senior Koko Richardson, 26th, 9.1; freshman Tee'Ara Copney, 28th, 8.8; sophomore Kendra Wallace, 29th, 8.5).
• Junior Chelsea McMillan's 16 rebounds at Clemson were the second most in the school's D-I era to only Ebony Johnson's 20 against Bethune-Cookman on Dec. 31, 2007.
• Junior Shadae Thompson had a solid debut at Clemson, posting six rebounds and two blocks.
Scouting Stetson
Stetson enters Thursday's game with an 0-7 record under second year head coach Lynn Bria.
The Hatters, who infused their team with four Division I transfers, have been led by Ole Miss transfer Daphne Frieson, who averages 10.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. She is one of four players on the Hatters who average more than five points per game and teams up with Jessica Conner (6.2 rebounds per game) to form a formidable post presence. The team will also be aided by the debut of 6-3 Natasha Graboski, a transfer from Cincinnati, on Thursday.
The Hatters last fell to Furman, 76-60, on Saturday in Greenville. Frieson led the way with 13 points and 13 rebounds in the game while Ashli Jackson added 13 points and Tierra Brown added six assists and four steals. Before that, the Hatters fell in their A-Sun opener to Florida Gulf Coast, 70-43, as Frieson once again scored 13 points to lead the Hatters, but the team was hampered by 21 turnovers.
Boarding
Junior Chelsea McMillan posted a career-high 16 rebounds at Clemson on Dec. 15, as the 6-0 forward posted the fifth 15-rebound game in Upstate's Division I era. McMillan, who also became the 29th player in school history to reach 300 career rebounds in the game, posted nine offensive rebounds in the game. The East Gadsden, Fla., native had twice posted 15-rebound efforts, at Belmont (2/15/09) and at S.C. State (11/24/09) and is the only player in the D-I era besides Ebony Johnson (20 rebounds vs. Bethune-Cookman, 12/31/07; 16 rebounds at UNC Asheville, 1/8/08), who also posted two 15-rebound games.
Thefts A-Plenty II
Even as junior Sharniece Wadelington and freshman Tee'Ara Copney are in the top five in the A-Sun in steals, the Spartans have found another pair of backcourt players who want to get their thefts in, too. Thanks to a career-high five steals on Dec. 15 at Clemson, sophomore Lesley Daniel jumped all the way up to eighth in the league in thefts, averaging 1.88 per game. With three takeaways of her own, senior Courtney Hawkins, who finished second in the league in thefts in 2007-08 at 2.38 per game, also jumped into the top 15, as she is currently 14th at 1.50 steals per game.
Last Time At The Edmunds Center
Senior Courtney Bradley's two free throws with 4.5 seconds left lifted Upstate to a 57-54 win over Stetson on Jan. 8, 2009 at the Edmunds Center. The Spartans won the first road A-Sun game in school history, thanks to the play of its veterans. Sophomore Sam Frost hit the front end of two free throws to give Upstate a 55-54 lead with 1:22 left. The Hatters 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 hand was waiting for the ball, rejecting the ball out of bounds, setting up the final free throws from Bradley.
Big Time Opponent, No Problem
Big-conference opponents bring the best out in junior Chelsea McMillan. In four career games against schools from either the Southeastern Conference or Atlantic Coast Conference, the 6-0 forward has averaged 14.0 points and 10.8 rebounds. Against South Carolina on Dec. 16, 2008, McMillan posted 16 points and eight rebounds and against Virginia Tech on Feb. 2, 2009, she added six points and eight rebounds. She improved those totals against No. 12/17 Virginia on Nov. 18, 2009, as she picked up her eighth career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, then she had an even more impressive effort at Clemson on Dec. 15, 2009, posting 20 points and adding 16 rebounds.
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 fifth in school history with 99 threes, needing just one more to reach the mark. Sophomore Kendra Wallace, after hitting 72 as a freshman, is already seventh in school history, passing Shannon Pallardy's mark of 80 with her first of four treys against UNC Asheville. She needs 13 to reach 100 career trifectas.
