Spartanburg, S.C. – USC Upstate's Chelsea McMillan was named the A-Sun Preseason Player of the Year prior to the start of the season. Monday night against Lipscomb, in a game that kicked off the conference's CSS Women's Basketball Game of the Week, the senior post player showed why she garnered such high praise. She finished with a double-double in a sensational second half performance to lead the Spartans over the Lady Bisons, 77-70, in the Hodge Center.

The game was the first-ever women's basketball game televised from the Hodge Center and just the third in the history of the men's and women's programs combined at Upstate. The win by the Spartans Monday night was the first-ever win by either team on television in the Hodge Center.

Upstate improved to 10-8 overall and 6-3 in the A-Sun with the win, while Lipscomb fell to 7-12 overall and 4-6 in the conference.

McMillan (East Gadsden, Fla.) was a force down low in the second half as the Spartans turned to her to lead them to victory. She finished with 23 points and 16 rebounds for her ninth double dip of the season and the 31^st of her career. She had 18 points and 11 rebounds in the second half alone.

"We told them coming out of timeouts in the second half that we were going to win or lose with Chelsea," said Upstate head coach Tammy George. "Our offense runs through her. She is going to have to make decisions whether she kicks the ball out when she is double-teamed or score on her own. She put us on her back tonight and said 'we're going to win' and she did just that."

If the A-Sun wanted an entertaining game to tip-off it's women's basketball television schedule, it certainly got it Monday night. There were 10 lead changes and eight ties in the game, as well as a few standout individual performances along the way.

Upstate got things started quickly, building a nine-point lead at the 15:52 mark of the first half. As would be the case throughout the night, the lead would not be safe. Lipscomb battled back to tie the game at 18-18 and the teams continued to jockey for position until Lipscomb's Jenna Bartsokas nailed a three-pointer and Anna Bowers followed with a layup to give the Lady Bisons five-straight points to close the half and take a 38-35 lead at the break.

Upstate actually endured a 5:53 scoring drought from the end of the first half to the start of the second. It allowed Lipscomb to open a 42-35 lead with 19:00 remaining in the game. However, the Lady Bisons' lead was also not safe as Upstate battled back to tie the game at 46-46 on a layup by McMillan. McMillan had eight of Upstate's 12 points during the run to tie the game.

Lipscomb fought back into the lead on a three-point play by Hannah Phillips, but a free throw from Kim Roach (Columbia, S.C.) and a layup by McMillan tied the game again with 11:19 to play. McMillan converted a layup with 10:23 remaining to put Upstate up by two, 51-49, and the Spartans would never trail again.

Tee'Ara Copney (Asheville, N.C.) nailed a three-pointer and McMillan sank four free throws to push upstate's lead to seven, 58-51, with 8:23 remaining. Lipscomb, though, would not go down without a fight. The lady Bisons used a a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to two. However, Upstate staved off the rally and used four-straight points from Roach to key a 7-0 run as Upstate opened a 65-56 lead with 6:13 to play.

Lipscomb made one last run late in the game. After Bowers nailed a three-pointer with 42 seconds to play, Upstate held a tenuous 73-70 lead. However, Kyana Jacobs (Dale City, Va.) and Copney sank four free throws down the stretch and Lipscomb was held scoreless the rest of the way as Upstate took the win. McMillan also came up with a key block on a three-pointer with 29 seconds left to seal the win.

"They are a very good basketball team and we knew they would make a run at us," said George. "I thought our kids did a good job of handling it and not letting it get too far out of reach. We've battled back all year long, so coming back in the second half wasn't anything we were worried about. We still had the confidence that down the stretch we were going to get this one."

Upstate shot just 35 percent from the field and 32 percent from the three-point arc. The Spartans were out-shot by Lipscomb with the Lady Bisons connecting on 41 percent from the field and 45 percent from the arc. But, Upstate won the game on the offensive glass and at the free throw line.

Upstate collected 19 offensive rebounds and held a 20-6 advantage in second-chance points. The Spartans also went to the free throw line 31 times and made 21 tries. They made more than Lipscomb attempted with the Lady Bisons going 7-for-12 from the stripe.

"We needed some offensive boards and we kept it alive," said George. "It was a great job on the boards tonight."

Upstate finished the game with just 15 turnovers after entering averaging 22.5 on the season. It was the second-straight game Upstate was well under its average after giving the ball away just 14 times in the win over Belmont on Saturday. The Spartans forced Lipscomb into 17 miscues on the night.

"We had more assists than turnovers and that is always a good thing," said George, "That hasn't been the case too much this year. We are doing a much better job at taking care of the basketball and it is helping us out."

In addition to her 23 points and 15 rebounds, McMillan also had a tremendous game in other areas. She dished out four assists, blocked three shots and tallied three steals as well. Copney was overshadowed by McMillan's second half performance, but finished the game with 19 points, six rebounds and six assists. Kendra Wallace (Huricane, W.Va.) knocked down three key three-pointers and finished with 11 points. Roach added a solid nine points and four rebounds off the bench.

McMillan's performance also overshadowed that of Lipscomb's Bartsokas. Bartsokas matched McMillan with 23 points and also had six assists and five rebounds. Bowers added 18 points and seven boards, while Phillips totaled 10 points, four rebounds and three assists.