Jan. 21, 2008

Final Stats

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Lipscomb shot 52 percent from the field and connected on nine 3-pointers to down the USC Upstate women's basketball team, 82-47, in Atlantic Sun Conference action on Monday night at Allen Arena. USC Upstate falls to 4-14 overall and 0-5 in the A-Sun while Lipscomb improved to 4-14 overall and 2-3 in the A-Sun.

Sophomore Courtney Hawkins (Greer, S.C./Greer) continued her torrid scoring in Atlantic Sun play, as she posted a game-high 18 points, connecting on two 3-pointers and adding four rebounds, three steals and an assist. Freshman Tiffany Whiting (Troutman, N.C./South Iredell) added nine points, three rebounds and three assists. Freshman Kimberly Pitman (Avery, N.C./Avery) added six points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Sophomore Shanea Wyant (Lafayette, Ind./Lafayette Jefferson) grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and added four points.

"We had our chances early in the game, but we didn't convert," Upstate head coach Tammy George said. "That created a chance for Lipscomb. They found the open player more often than not to hurt us inside and outside."

The Lady Bisons scored 49 points in the second half, opening the half with a 29-12 run over the first 11 minutes of the second half to take a 61-33 lead with 9:00 remaining in the game. Dana Carrigan led the Bisons with nine points in the half and Jenna Bartsokas added eight, including two connections from 3-point-land.

Jillian Partin led the Lady Bisons to a hot start with seven straight points during a 14-4 run to start the game, forcing two quick Spartan timeouts. The Bisons were able to keep the momentum, extending the lead to 30-12 after a bucket from Catie Woods on a floating jumper.

From there, the Spartans closed the half on a 9-3 run to make it 33-21 at the half, with Hawkins posting five points and Whiting collecting four, including a 3-pointer. Hawkins posted 11 points during the first half for Upstate.

Partin led the Bisons with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Bartsokas added 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Carrigan posted 12 points and four assists for Lipscomb, which finished the game 30-for-58 (51.7 percent) from the floor.

Upstate returns home to be visited by A-Sun leading Jacksonville on Friday at 7 p.m.

Notes
The Spartans are now 8-5 all-time on Jan. 21.

Sophomore Courtney Hawkins has reached double figures in 13 of 18 games this year.

Sophomore Courtney Hawkins has hit a 3-pointer in each of the last five games and eight of the last nine.

Sophomore Courtney Hawkins has recorded a steal in each of the last 17 games, with her last game without a theft coming in the season-opener at Kentucky on Nov. 10.

Junior Kelly Westfield hit the first 3-pointer of her Upstate career with 3:19 left in the second half.

Freshman Kimberly Pitman recorded her fourth and fifth blocked shots of the season to move into second on the team behind junior Ebony Johnson, who has nine.

Freshman Tiffany Whiting connected on a 3-pointer, giving her 20 on the season and making her just the eighth player in school history to connect on 20 during their rookie year.

Freshman Tara Tranum tied a career-high with three rebounds, set at Radford on Jan. 8.

Sophomore Shanea Wyant tied a career-high with two steals, set three other times.