Upstate to Host High Point for Hodge Center Sunday Action
12/14/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Katie Parker, kparker@uscupstate.edu
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate women's basketball team (4-5) returns to action Sunday, hosting High Point (4-5) at 3 p.m. inside the Hodge Center.
SCOUTING HIGH POINT
This will be the second meeting between High Point and Upstate. The Spartans hold a 1-0 advantage against the Panthers as Upstate claimed a 90-61 victory at High Point Nov. 20, 1990.
High Point is 4-5 on the season with a 1-4 record on the road. The team's lone road victory came at Navy Dec. 1 in a 63-47 fashion. In HPU's last outing, the Panthers dropped a 59-42 decision at Davidson Dec. 5.
In the contest, the Panthers were led by Cheyenne Parker with a double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds to go along with four blocked shots and four assists. Tayler Tremblay was second on the team with six points, while Stacia Robertson and Lexi Patterson each added five points. Robertson also helped High Point snagging six boards, swiping four steals and swatting three blocks.
On the season, Parker paces HPU averaging a double-double of 16.0 points per game and 13.7 rebounds an outing. Tremblay is next on the team, putting up 9.1 points a contest, while Lindsay Puckett averages 8.6 points a game. Robertson is second on the team in rebounding, grabbing 6.6 boards per game to go along with 7.9 points a contest.
Despite the two programs only facing off once in the early 1990s, the Spartans will see several familiar faces Sunday. Kendra Wallace played three seasons for the Spartans from 2008-2011. She tops the Upstate record books with 172 career three-pointers made. Wallace redshirted her senior season due to an injury and received her Bachelor's degree last spring from Upstate. As a graduate student at High Point, Wallace is averaging 5.0 points per game. She posted a season-high 14 points at ETSU Nov. 10.
The Spartans are also familiar with Panther assistant coaches Kevin Nicholls and Colby Tilley. Nicholls served as an assistant coach at Upstate for three seasons (2008-11), while Tilley was the head coach at Atlantic Sun Conference foe Kennesaw State from 1995-2011.
SPARTAN QUICK HITS
• Upstate continues its four-game homestand, hosting High Point Sunday for a 3 p.m. nonconference contest. The Spartans are 2-1 inside the Hodge Center this season, improving to 4-2 in home-openers since joining the Division-I ranks with a 83-26 win over St. Andrews Nov. 19.
• The matchup against High Point will be the second-straight contest against a Big South opponent for Upstate. The Spartans are 1-0 against Big South members this season with a 54-52 come-from-behind victory against UNC Asheville Dec. 3 in the Hodge Center.
• Sophomore Shelby Hicks helped push the Spartans past Asheville, recording a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds, while tying her career high by swatting three blocks. The double-double marked her first this season and the second on her career.
• After a slow start this season, senior Tee'Ara Copney posted a team-high 12 points against UNCA for the second-straight contest. She recorded a team-best 18 points in a 51-48 victory at Western Carolina. Copney has averaged 15-plus points per game over the last two seasons and currently is putting up 10.2 points an outing.
• The win over the Bulldogs Dec. 3 marked the second time this season Upstate has erased a double-digit deficit as the Spartans picked-up its first win of the season at Norfolk State Nov. 15 with a 71-64 overtime win. Upstate trailed by as many as 14 points against UNC Asheville and by as many as 15 at NSU.
• Even though Upstate has played three nationally ranked teams, the Spartans currently lead the Atlantic Sun in field goal percent defense with their opponents shooting .359. The Spartans rank second in three-point field goal percent defense (.273) and field goal percentage (.412).
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