Spartans Set For Trip To Preseason A-Sun Favorites
12/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 18, 2009
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Complete FGCU Game Notes in PDF Format 
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Staring down a matchup at the toughest arena to win at in the Atlantic Sun Conference, the USC Upstate women's basketball team heads to preseason favorite Florida Gulf Coast for a 7:05 p.m. showdown in the final game before an 11-day holiday break.
The Spartans (5-4 overall, 0-1 A-Sun) fought back from a 17-point first-half deficit to take a lead with 4:53 left in Thursday's 69-61 loss at Stetson. The battling Spartans were led by sophomore Kendra Wallace, who hit a season-high five threes in the game. Wallace could be a much-needed component in Upstate's arsenal, as FGCU, which has lived by the 3-pointer this year, has also died by it. Michigan State hit a school-record 13 3-pointers in FGCU's last game on Dec. 13.
FGCU (4-3 overall, 1-0 A-Sun), with three players among the A-Sun leaders in 3-pointers, will look to the outside shot along with the inside presence of Adrianne McNally (12.4 points, 5.3 rebounds per game) to lead a swift motion offense that averages just 13.7 turnovers per game against Upstate's stout defensive backcourt, which forces 24.6 per game.
Spartan Notables
• The Spartans are 0-3 all-time on Dec. 19, last falling to Oral Roberts, 82-60, in 2008.
• Upstate is 2-12 all-time in the state of Florida.
• With 165 career steals, senior Courtney Hawkins is just four swipes from sixth in school history, where Joey Paugh (1989-93) stands.
• With her first of 10 points at Stetson, sophomore Lesley Daniel became the 93rd player in school history to reach 200 career points.
• Junior Chelsea McMillan is 21 points from becoming the 33rd player in school history to reach 500 career points.
• Senior Courtney Hawkins is just one made free throw made away from becoming the fifth player in school history to reach 300 in a career.
• Sophomore Kendra Wallace has made five or more 3-pointers in five career games.
• Upstate has posted three 15-steal games this season and seven double-figure steal efforts, including 15 swipes at Stetson.
• Saturday's game features the top two teams in turnover margin in the A-Sun, as Upstate leads the league with a +6.00 margin. FGCU owns a +4.86 margin.
Scouting FGCU
One of the best provisional programs in the history of Division I basketball, Florida Gulf Coast is in its third year of its four-year provisional status and the Eagles have already made two trips to the WNIT and wrapped up one A-Sun regular-season title.
Under the guidance of Karl Smesko, a brutal early season schedule has seen FGCU get out to a 4-3 start, winning games against UTEP, Tulsa, Rider and Stetson.
The Eagles are led by Adrianne McNally, who averages 12.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Shannon Murphy, Eglah Griffin, and Kelsey Jacobson are all amongst the A-Sun leaders in 3-pointers hit, as the Eagles average just over 10 trifectas per game.
FGCU has had six days off since a 94-71 at No. 21/24 Michigan State, as the Eagles canned 13 3-pointers in the game, led by four from Jacobsen. McNally added 21 points and five rebounds, but the Eagles were hurt by a -10 differential on the glass and six blocked shots.
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 just eight more to reach 100 career trifectas.
Thefts A-Plenty
In a town internationally known for the A-Plenty from the Beacon Drive-In, the Spartans have been just as unwelcome to its opponents thanks to a trio of thieves on the squad. Freshman Tee'Ara Copney, sophomore Lesley Daniel and junior Sharniece Wadelington have terrorized their opponents this season, combining for 60 steals in nine games, an average of 6.7 per game.
Copney currently leads the team and is third in the A-Sun, averaging 2.4 steals per game. The freshman guard pick-pocketed Longwood five times and she has multiple steals in six contests. She also picked up four steals at Stetson. 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 20 of Upstate's 64 fastbreak points this year.
Wadelington and Daniel, meanwhile, are both tied for fifth in the A-Sun in takeaways. Wadelington has pick-pocketed five teams three times, and she is tied for the team lead with multiple steals in six games. Daniel has nine thefts in her last two games, helping her rise up the conference ladder, thanks to five steals at Clemson and four more at Stetson.
Daniel's Dish
Sophomore Lesley Daniel has continued to develop as a point guard for the Spartans, as she enters Saturday's game fourth in the A-Sun, averaging 3.89 assists per game. Amazingly, Daniel is just 10 months removed from a knee injury that took her from the court for the last four games of her freshman year. The 5-5 southpaw has posted five four-assist games, including tying a career high with six assists at S.C. State on Nov. 28. Daniel is a gritty, hard-nosed ballhandler as a freshman that also has an ability to score in bunches, as she has notched seven career 10-point games, including tying a career-high with 14 at Clemson on Dec. 15 and adding 10 at Stetson on Dec. 17.
C-Mac Attack
Junior Chelsea McMillan has been on a roll since Jan. 15 of last year, when she posted her first career double-double with 31 points and 14 rebounds against Lipscomb. Since that game, the 6-0 forward has scored 326 points (13.6 per game), grabbed 233 rebounds (9.7) and blocked 31 shots. She has also been consistent from the field, hitting 43.1 (125-290) percent of her shots and outstanding at the free throw line, hitting 87.1 (74-85) percent of her shots in her last 24 games. This season, McMillan has been simply outstanding, averaging 13.8 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, also posting four double-doubles through eight games.
Into The Fire
Head coach Tammy George has not been shy about playing freshmen during Upstate's first three years of Division I play. In fact, Upstate's three freshmen in 2008-09 averaged 23.6 minutes of court time per player during the season. Kendra Wallace led the way, playing 1,004 minutes, an average of 34.6 minutes per night. In 2007-08, the Spartans' five freshmen averaged 10.8 minutes per night, but three of them averaged more than 15.0 minutes per game. In the first nine games of the 2009-10 season, the four Spartan freshmen have averaged 14.2 minutes, 4.3 points and 2.5 rebounds each per game.
The Magic Number With the 84-60 win over Winston-Salem State, USC Upstate once again proved its magic number remains 70. When the team scores more than 70 points for head coach Tammy George, the Spartans win more than 70 percent of the time in the D-I era. Upstate is 14-5 (.737) in games in which it reaches 70 points, including all four of its wins during the 2009-10 campaign. Upstate was 7-3 when scoring more than 70 points in 2008-09. The team has lost just once in the D-I era when scoring 80 or more points.
