Jan. 14, 2010

Final Stats

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The USC Upstate women's basketball team rallied late to get within three points with less than two minutes left twice, but each time Mercer's best player, Courtney Ford, answered, as the senior guard posted five points in the last minute to lead Mercer to a 57-53 win in Atlantic Sun Conference action at the Hodge Center on Thursday night.

"We've made a habit of falling behind in games this year and we did it again (Thursday)," Upstate head coach Tammy George said. "When you do that against good teams like Mercer, it is hard to get out of that whole. I liked that we won't give up, but we can't get into 17-point holes and expect to win."

Freshman Tee'Ara Copney (Asheville, N.C./T.C. Roberson) led the Spartans (9-7 overall, 3-4 A-Sun) with a game-high 20 points, posting an 8-for-12 effort from the floor to go with a career-high tying three 3-pointers. She also added three rebounds, two assists and two steals. She was complemented by junior Chelsea McMillan (East Gadsden, Fla./Santa Fe C.C.), who added 15 points and 16 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season despite facing constant double teams.

A 3-pointer by Mercer's LaToya Jackson gave Mercer a 48-31 lead with 10:24 left in the half, but the Spartans cut into the lead with seven straight points over the next five minutes, as junior Shadae Thompson (Greenville, S.C./Anderson University) hit a jumper, Copney hit a free throw and junior Sharniece Wadelington (Greenville, S.C./UNC Greensboro) added a pair of layups.

Upstate kept the pressure on, as McMillan made a pair of layups to make it a seven-point game with 4:20 left and Copney and sophomore Lesley Daniel (Collinwood, Tenn./Collinwood) hit shots to make it a four-point game with 2:21 left. After a Mercer turnover, McMillan hit the back end of a pair of free throws to make it 51-48 with 1:39 left.

However, Ford took over from there, converting on a traditional three-point play with 59 seconds left. Sophomore Kendra Wallace (Hurricane, W.Va./Nitro) followed with a 3-pointer with 54 seconds left, but once again, Ford came through by converting a pair of free throws with 36 seconds left. Upstate missed three 3-point attempts after that and a free throw by LaToya Jackson with five seconds left gave Mercer (8-8 overall, 5-2 A-Sun) a 57-51 lead. Copney cut the lead to four points with two seconds left, but Mercer was able to run out the clock and take the four-point win.

The Bears opened the game on a 17-3 run capped by one of Jackson's five 3-pointers in the game. Copney stopped the run with a three of her own with 12:23 left in the first and Upstate had to work to cut into the big lead for much of the rest of the half. After a Mercer bucket with 8:34 left in the half, the Spartans went on a 14-3 run that was capped by a jumper from McMillan with 1:21 left. However, Mercer scored five points after that, as Jackson hit another three, helping the Bears take a 29-21 lead into halftime. The two teams volleyed back and forth for much of the first 10 minutes of the first half until a 3-pointer by Copney with 12:06 left was answered by eight straight Mercer points, helping the Bears take a 48-31 lead.

Daniel finished with five points and four assists and Wadelington posted four points, two rebounds and a game-high four steals. Thompson posted four points and two rebounds.

Three Bears accounted for 49 of the team's 57 points, led by 19 points, six rebounds and four assists from Ford. Jackson added 18 points and two assists and Kourtney Carter posted 12 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

The Spartans get back on the court on Monday at 1 p.m. when Kennesaw State comes to the Hodge Center.

Notes:

• The Spartans are 6-5 all-time on Jan. 14.

• Sophomore Kendra Wallace has hit 3-pointer in 15 of 16 games this year and in each of her last eight games.

• Junior Sharniece Wadelington posted a season-high four steals.

• Freshman Tee'Ara Copney has led Upstate in scoring three times this year and she has two 20-point games.