Feb. 8, 2010

Final Stats

MACON, Ga. - In a battle of third-place Atlantic Sun Conference teams, Mercer and the USC Upstate women's basketball team fittingly turned to the 3-pointer, combining for 23 in a terse battle Monday night. In the end, it was sophomore Lesley Daniel (Colliwood, Tenn./Collinwood) that hit the biggest dagger of the night, highlighting a game-clinching 11-2 run to lift Upstate to an 87-78 win over Mercer at the University Center.

Mercer shot 79 percent from long-distance, going 11-for-14 from behind-the-arc, with LaToya Jackson hitting seven treys to lead the way. However, Upstate was hot enough to more than keep pace, shooting a season-high 52 percent (32-for-62) from the field and hitting 44 percent (12-for-27) from behind-the-arc.

"I've never seen a team shoot like that before," Upstate head coach Tammy George said. "That was amazing to witness, but somehow we held on and made some big shots down the stretch. I'm very proud of the team. We could've given up the way they were shooting, but we held on."

The win lifts the Spartans to 15-8 overall and 9-5 in the A-Sun, helping them keep sole possession of third place n the conference. The win also ensures Upstate of its first winning season in the D-I era and its first since 2005-06, head coach Tammy George's first year in Spartanburg.

Mercer (11-12 overall, 8-6 A-Sun) used an 8-of-10 performance from behind the arc to cut into a Spartan lead that stretched to 13 points late in the second half. Neicey Lewis hit a three from the left side to tie the game at 74 with 4:04 left and an Upstate turnover led to Courtney Ford hitting two free throws at the line, giving the Bears just their third lead of the game.

Then senior Koko Richardson (Mary Esther, Fla./Santa Fe C.C.) took over, getting a dish from freshman Tee'Ara Copney (Asheville, N.C./T.C. Roberson) and driving the lane for a layup.

"I saw that the middle was open," Richardson said. "The whole game they were collapsing on the post players, so if I got the ball to me, I saw they didn't collapse. I just spun and went left. I was just trying to get our team a win. We lost here last year and I didn't want to lose again. I heard a little voice in my head, and I know it was God, that said, `Just go.'"

The Bears missed a jumper and again, Richardson got the ball at the top of the key and she drove the lane to put Upstate ahead, 78-76 with 2:43 left.

"That was by far, the biggest part of the game," Copney said. "Both Lesley and Koko stepped up and helped. Koko really brought out her senior leadership then."

Ford, the conference's second leading scorer, then drove the lane on McMillan, but McMillan swatted away the guard's shot from behind, sending the Spartans on a break, which Daniel converted with a layup. McMillan grabbed a missed Bears jumper and Upstate used all the shot clock, with Daniel shooting over two outstretched Bears as the clock ticked down to one second, giving Upstate an 83-76 lead with 1:31 left.

"That was a big shot," George said. "I'm just glad she had the awareness to shoot it and it went in. It did look good."

The Bears finally got a bucket, but Daniel again drove in for a layup to answer and sophomore Kendra Wallace (Hurricane, W.Va./Nitro) hit a pair of free throws to wrap up the scoring with 16 seconds left.

The Bears took a 10-8 lead after a jumper from Ford, who finished with 29 points, but the Spartans responded with the first of Copney's six 3-pointers to ignite a 9-0 run that also featured another Copney trey and one from freshman Lauren McRoberts (Carmel, Ind./Carmel). The Bears scored seven in a row to tie the game at 17 with 8:06, but Ford committed her second foul seconds later, sending her to the bench for the rest of the half. Upstate attacked without the Bears' best player on the floor, igniting on a 12-0 run that featured five points from both Copney and senior Courtney Hawkins (Greer, S.C./Greer). Upstate stretched the lead to 13 after a layup from junior Sharniece Wadelington (Greenville, S.C./UNC Greensboro) with 3:27 left and headed to the locker room with a 40-29 lead.

The two teams exchanged buckets early in the first half, but a 3-pointer from Ford ignited a 7-0 Bears run to cut the lead to 56-52 with 12:42 left. The teams then exchanged threes, with one from Wallace being followed by a layup from Copney with 10:31 left, giving the Spartans a 64-55 lead. The Spartans kept the lead around seven points until a 10-3 run by the Bears started after a pair of free throws from Sharmesia Smith with 6:07 left. The run was capped by Lewis' trey.

Four Spartans finished in double figures for the sixth time this year and 16th in the D-I era, led by 22 points, a career-high and D-I era record-tying six 3-pointers from Copney, who also added four assists and five steals.

"I always look for her because she has that confidence," Daniel said of Copney, who posted her team-leadng sixth 20-point game of the year. "She knows how to get the job done. Especially as a freshman, coming in, she's done some big work for us."

McMillan narrowly missed her sixth straight double-double, posting 19 points and nine rebounds to go with two steals and two blocks. Daniel notched 16 points, 13 coming in the second stanza, to go with three assists and two steals and McRoberts posted a career-high 11 points to go with four rebounds. Richardson and Hawkins each added six points, with Hawkins adding four assists and two steals and Richardson posting two assists and three steals. Wallace notched five points and a career-high six assists.

The senior duo of Ford and LaToya Jackson combined for 52 points with Ford also adding 10 rebounds and three assists and Jackson hitting seven treys to go with four assists and three steals. Lewis added 13 points, five rebounds and three assists.

The Spartans now head back to the Hodge Center for a pair of games against the A-Sun's Nashville schools when Lipscomb comes on Thursday for a 5 p.m. game and Belmont wraps up the set Saturday when it comes to the Hodge for a 4:30 p.m. game.

Notes:
• The Spartans are 7-6 all-time on Feb. 8.

• Sophomore Kendra Wallace needs to hit one 3-pointer to become the second player in school history to record two 50-trey seasons.

• Junior Chelsea McMillan needs four rebounds to enter the school's single-season top 10 list ... Her 245 rebounds establish a new D-I era record.

• Sophomore Lesley Daniel has hit a career-high 24 3-pointers this season.

• Both freshman Tee'Ara Copney and sophomore Kendra Wallace reached 50 steals in their careers on Monday night ... Copney has 54 steals and Wallace has 50.

• Freshman Tee'Ara Copney needs is the 37th player and 11th freshman in school history to reach 50 steals in a season.

• Upstate is 5-0 this season when playing on Monda