Spartanburg, S.C.— The USC Upstate women's basketball team will host their home opener on Tuesday, November 5
th against Florida A&M. The Spartans and Rattlers will face off for the first time in program history.
The Spartans will not miss a beat from last season as they return 5 seniors and 4 of their starting 5 from last season. The Spartan specialized on the offensive side of the ball last season, averaging 62.4 per game and 6.6 3-point field goals per game, which is tied for first in the Big South Conference.
The Spartans had a trio of top 30 point scorers in the Big South conference and are returning 2 out of the 3 this season. Among the returning point scorers is Briana Lewis, who ranked fourth in points per game in the Big South Conference at 15.7. Lewis was also able to rank second in assists in the Big South Conference with 4.7 assist per game.
Another top returner for the Spartans is
Riley Popplewell. Popplewell played in every game last season and averaged 11.2 points per game. Popplewell also registered 7.8 rebounds per game, which ranked sixth in the Big South Conference. Popplewell will look to continue her board dominance by adding to her team-high 118 total rebounds last season.
In the mix of numerous veteran returners,
Michaela Gibbons and
Anda Kuzmina will look to add onto their strong sophomore seasons from last year. Gibbons was able to average 8.7 points per game and ranked top 25 in rebounds (5.1 per game), steals (1.3 per game) and Three-Point field goals (1.9 per game). Kuzmina averaged 3.7 points per game while also averaging 1.8 rebounds per game in an injury plagued season.
On top of having numerous talented veteran returners, the Spartans are welcoming five new additions to the team. These newcomers include 5'8" guard
Jada Logan, 5'11" forward
Lillian Flantos, 6'0" forward
Quadijah Moore, 5'10" guard/forward
Maya Timberlake, and 5'11" forward
Shelby Glance.
The Spartans are led by Head Coach
Tammy George in her 15
th season and enters the season as the all-time leader in victories at USC Upstate.
The Spartans will tip things off tomorrow evening at 6 p.m. at the G.B. Hodge Center. Links to the live stats and video stream can be found at
www.upstatespartans.com. Season tickets and single game tickets can also be purchased online.
Follow USC Upstate women's basketball on Facebook (UpstateAthletics), Twitter (@UpstateWB), Instagram (@upstatespartans) and YouTube (USCUpstateAthletics).
