Upstate Women's Hoops Land Six Spring Signees
6/5/2013 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 program and head coach Tammy George added six athletes to the 2013-14 roster during the NCAA's spring signing period with four being Prairie State products.
Sharmayne Edwards is a 5-8 guard from Lake City, Fla., who spent the past two seasons at Florida State College at Jacksonville. During her sophomore campaign, she led the Bluewave to a Mid-Florida Conference Championship, while averaging 16.3 points per game. Edwards' career-high came in a win against conference foe Santa Fe Jan. 5 in which she scored 43 points on a 15-for-31 effort from the floor. She was a First Team All-Conference selection and also earned a spot on the All-Region/State Team after the conclusion of her sophomore season.
"Sharmayne will add experience to our backcourt," George said. "She has proved she can score the basketball at the college level the past two years. Beyond her scoring ability, we are really excited about the leadership she will bring to next year's team."
Upstate also inked Angenay Williams, a 5-9 Chicago Heights, Ill., native, transferring from Odessa College. Over the past two seasons, she has led the Wranglers to back-to-back 20-win seasons. During her sophomore season, the guard led the conference in scoring at 17.1 points per outing, while recording 7.2 rebounds a game. Williams was named to the WJCAC All-Conference Team along with earning All-Region nods.
"Angenay is a versatile player who brings two years of experience from a winning program at the college level," George said. "While recruiting Angenay we couldn't help but notice how she always found herself around the basketball. She is a strong kid that will add toughness to our team right away."
Lauren Bogle hails from Brocton, Ill., and has spent the last two seasons playing junior college ball at Lake Land College in Illinois. During her two seasons at Lake Land, the 5-10 wing player helped guide the program to a national tournament berth in 2012 along with posting consecutive 20-plus winning seasons. Bogle was an All-Conference and All-Region selection as a sophomore. She was also named to the All-America Third Team in 2012-13, after averaging 14.3 points a game, 7.3 boards per contest and 4.3 assists an outing.
"We think Lauren is a young lady who will compete at multiple positions for us next season," George said. "Lauren plays very hard and has a good basketball IQ. She has been a part of a successful junior college program the past two years and knows what it takes for a team to win."
After graduating two-year starting point guard Tyra Smith the Spartans add Alex Stanford, who is a 5-6 point guard from Country Club Hills, Ill. She will have three years of eligibility for Upstate, after playing her freshman year at Kaskaskia College, where she quarterbacked a Blue Angles squad that made a NJCAA National Tournament appearance. The Blue Angles finished the season 24-9, while Stanford put up 12 points per game and handed out four assists a contest. She joined fellow signee Bogle on the All-Region Team, following her freshman year.
"Alex is a pure point guard who has good court vision and awareness," George said. "She was able to lead a team to the national tournament as a freshman point guard. We look forward to watching her grow in our system here at Upstate."
Toni Romiti is a 5-8 combo guard from Hinsdale South High School in Darien, Ill. She guided Hinsdale South to consecutive West Suburban Gold Titles as a junior and senior. Romiti finished her high school career scoring over 1,200 career points with 476 points coming during her senior campaign. Last season, she recorded a career-high and school record 40 points against Proviso East, while also setting a program record 10 made three-pointers that same season against nearby rival Hinsdale Central.
"Toni is a basketball player; we feel like she can play at the point guard position along with moving off the ball as a shooting guard at times," George said. "Her ability to shoot the ball from the perimeter stands out when you first see Toni play. We are excited about the addition of her to our backcourt."
The only Spartan newcomer from the Carolinas hails from Mint Hill, N.C. Paris Johnson is a 5-11 forward, who played at New Hope Christian Academy. She helped the Lady Phoenix to a 31-2 record, while finishing second in the NACA National Tournament this past season. Johnson averaged eight points and five rebounds per game for New Hope, a program that also finished the year ranked as the top team in the state of North Carolina and 28th nationally by MaxPreps.com.
"We are excited about the addition of Paris to our program," George said. "She has had to overcome some injuries in the past, but her work ethic always brings her back stronger than before. Outside of her work ethic, her physicality stands out the most, which we look forward to having in our frontcourt."
The six newcomers will join early signee Raven Jefferson along with six returners from the 2012-13 squad. Upstate returns three starters from last season's squad in upcoming junior Shelby Hicks and upcoming sophomores Brittany Starling and Brittany Clency. Starling was named to the Atlantic Sun Conference All-Freshman Team last season after averaging 10.3 points per game and a team-leading 6.3 rebounds a contest.
"Our staff is very excited about these six signees along with our early signee, Raven Jefferson," George said. "We feel like we have added depth to our backcourt along with some versatility to our frontcourt. In recruiting, you want to fill your needs and I believe we were able to do that. We look forward to these young ladies joining our six returners for the 2013-14 season."
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