Spartan Women's Hoops Welcome Presbyterian
12/1/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate women's basketball team (1-6) hosts Presbyterian College (3-4) tomorrow at 7 p.m. in the Hodge Center.
PC Points:
Presbyterian enters Friday's contest 3-4 overall this season. In the Blue Hose last outing, they picked up a 64-48 win over N.C. Central at home Nov. 29.
PC is 1-3 on the road this season. Presbyterian dropped its season-opener Nov. 11 at Charlotte 58-42. The Blue Hose also lost two-straight contests 61-38 at North Carolina and 52-24 at South Carolina Nov. 22 and Nov. 27, respectively.
The Blue Hose are led by Mariah Pietrowski with 9.6 points per game, while Dria David averages 9.3 points. David posts a team-high 24 assists on the season. Pietrowski and Sherece Smith lead the squad in rebounding, averaging 5.1 boards per contests.
Upstate holds a 20-17 advantage against Presbyterian in the all-time series, including a 10-8 mark in the Hodge Center. In the teams' last meeting, the Spartans beat the Blue Hose 78-73 in Spartanburg, S.C., Dec. 2, 2010. PC's last victory over Upstate came Dec. 17, 2006 in Spartanburg, S.C., when the Blue Hose claimed a 94-85 win.
In last year's contest, Lauren McRoberts posted a season-high for Upstate with 16 points, while Tee'Ara Copney also put up 16 points. PC was led by Shonda Burnside with 24 points, while David had 14 points and Karlee Taylor added 12. As a team, Upstate edged Presbyterian in the battle of the boards 36-35, while PC committed 27 turnovers compared to Upstate's 30. The Spartans shot 50.0 percent from the floor and 37.5 from three-point range, while the Blue Hose were 41.8 percent from the floor and 44.4 from behind the arc.
Spartan Snip-Its:
Upstate snapped a six-game skid last night with a 73-66 win on the road at UNC Asheville as junior Tee'Ara Copney (Asheville, N.C.) posted a career-high 34 points. The win was the first for the squad this season. The 0-6 start marked the first time the Spartans have dropped their first six contests of the season since the 2001-02 campaign, when they started the year 0-7. That season Upstate opened the season with a 72-67 loss to North Greenville Nov. 16, 2001. In this year's season-opener, the Spartans dropped a 75-57 decision to the Crusaders at the Hodge Center Nov. 11. This is the first time under head coach Tammy George that the Spartans have posted a 0-6 record to start the season.
The 75-34 loss at Auburn Sunday, Nov. 27 was the second Southeastern Conference foe the Spartans face this season. Upstate posted a 88-42 loss at Vanderbilt Nov. 16.
The 91-34 loss at then-No. 20/19 North Carolina Nov. 13 was the first of two Atlantic Coast Conference opponents on the docket for Upstate this season. The Spartans will make the trip from Spartanburg to Durham, N.C., for a 2 p.m. tip-off at No. 7/6 Duke Dec. 11.
The Spartans return six players from last season's squad and welcome eight newcomers. Upstate welcomes five freshmen to the team (Hikeya' Davis, Maddie Herr, Shelby Hicks, Briana Robinson and Paulina Zaveckaite) and a trio of junior college transfers (Hannah Ohl, Erin Pinkett and Tyra Smith).
Upstate is led by Copney with 19.6 points per game and 4.0 rebounds per contest. Sophomore Kim Roach (Columbia, S.C.) and freshman Briana Robinson (Columbia, S.C.) are averaging 7.0 and 6.7 points per contest, respectively. Junior Lauren McRoberts (Carmel, Ind.) leads the squad with 5.8 boards per contest, while Paulina Zaveckaite (Gainesville, Fla.) is averaging 5.4 rebounds a game.
The Spartans were picked to finish seventh in the A-Sun Preseason Coaches' Poll and fifth in the A-Sun Preseason Media Poll. Copney was a unanimous Preseason All-Conference Team pick, after averaging 15.1 points per game last season. She also averaged 4.1 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.4 steals per contest.
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