Spartans Return from Holiday Break to Face Mars Hill
12/29/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate women's basketball team returns to the court on Wednesday for a 5 p.m. contest inside the Hodge Center against Mars Hill.
In their final game before a break for Christmas on Dec. 19, the Spartans defeated N.C. Central 68-46. Brittany Starling scored 23 points and pulled down 14 rebounds for her third double-double of the week and fourth consecutive while moving into 10th place in scoring with 1,233 career points. Starling was named the Atlantic Sun Co-Player of the Week on Dec. 21 after averaging 20.3 points per game and 14.3 rebounds per game in three contests as Upstate went 2-1. Brittany Clency finished with 14 points while Raven Jefferson scored 11. Vanessa Agrusa handed out a career-high four assists.
Starling leads the A-Sun in offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds and total rebounds and is seventh among NCAA Division I players in rebounds per game with 12.8. She is second in the conference in field goals and third in the league in scoring. Travonda Haddock is the league leader in blocks, while Clency leads the conference in free throw percentage. Jefferson is 10th in the league in steals.
The Spartans lead the Atlantic Sun in rebounding, free throws made, free throws attempted, field goals attempts and blocks. Upstate is second in the conference in scoring and third in assists per game and steals per game. Upstate ranks sixth in the NCAA in total rebounding.
Mars Hill sits at 3-7 overall and is a member of NCAA Division II and the South Atlantic Conference. The Lions are led by Ansley Ricker with 13.9 points per game and Genice Lane with 7.2 rebounds per game. Ricker surpassed the 1,000-point mark earlier this month. MHU head coach Sarah Jansen played for the Spartans from 1999-2004.
Upstate welcomes Western Carolina to the Hodge Center for their final non-conference game of the season on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
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