Upstate Starts Preparations for 2014-15 Season Sunday Afternoon
10/5/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate women's basketball team officially kicked off the 2014-15 season Sunday afternoon with its first practice held inside the Hodge Center.
The team practiced for just over two hours on Sunday in preparation for its season-opening game at Iowa on Friday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m.
"There is a lot of excitement," said head coach Tammy George. "It was a good practice and there was a lot of intensity. This group has really worked hard to get where we are. I feel like we are in a good spot."
Upstate returns all five starters from last season's team that finished third in the Atlantic Sun with a 17-15 overall record and 11-7 mark in the A-Sun, and earned its second bid in program history to the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) Tournament. The Spartans advanced to the semifinals of the A-Sun Tournament following a 76-66 win over East Tennessee State in Spartanburg. The 17 wins posted by Upstate are tied for second-most during a season in the Division I era while the 11 conference victories are third.
The Spartans will feature an experienced squad in 2014-15 as nine letter winners are back, highlighted by the five returning starters in Brittany Clency, Brittany Starling, Lauren Bogle, Shelby Hicks and Raven Jefferson. Clency was a Second Team All-A-Sun selection last season after leading Upstate in scoring with 11.9 points per game. Starling, who was named Preseason All-A-Sun in 2013-14, was second in scoring at 10.5 points per game and led team in rebounding with 7.9 per contest. Bogle was first in steals with 36 after appearing in 31 games and starting in 22 of them. Hicks had a team-high 26 blocks last year, while Jefferson was one of two players, joining Starling, to play in all 32 games and started in a team-best 29 of them.
Also returning this season for the Spartans will be Sharmayne Edwards, Travonda Haddock, Maddie Herr and Alex Stanford.
A total of seven players will join Upstate this season consisting of five freshmen and two juniors. The seven newcomers are: Nora Berry, Mar'Lisa Braxton, A'Lexxus Davis, Kristen Dickerson, Elesha Foster, Briana McCrimmon and Coco Ritter.
The Spartans open their home schedule on Tuesday, Nov. 18 with a 7 p.m. matchup against Converse College.
The Hodge Center was recently named by Stadium Journey Magazine as the 15th-best Division I college basketball area for game atmosphere and experience.
The USC Upstate Athletic Department just launched its "Pack the Hodge" campaign that encourages Upstate fans to help sell out the season ticket allotment and create one of the top home court advantages in the country.
For more information on season ticket packages or to order your tickets today, please visit www.upstatespartans.com or call (864) 503-5893.
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