Jan. 25, 2008

Final Stats

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - A last-second baseline jumper bounced off the rim for the USC Upstate women's basketball team, as Atlantic Sun-leading Jacksonville prevented Upstate from winning its first-ever conference game, 66-65, on Friday night at the Hodge Center. Upstate falls to 4-15 overall and 0-6 in the A-Sun and Jacksonville improves to 15-4 overall and 6-0 in the league.

Sophomore Courtney Hawkins (Greer, S.C./Greer), who is second in the A-Sun in scoring in conference games, upped her average to 18.7 with a game-high 25 points. The sophomore went toe-to-toe with the top scorer in the conference, Jacksonville's Ashley Williams, and came out on top, with Williams scoring 24.

Dressing only seven players, the Spartans used a team-effort to keep the Dolphins on their toes throughout the game, never falling behind by more than nine. The Spartans also got solid contributions from junior Ebony Johnson (Columbia, S.C./Ridgeview), who posted 14 points, six rebounds and two assists and freshman Tiffany Whiting (Troutman, N.C./South Iredell), who added 12 points, four rebounds and two 3-pointers. Junior Cherale Powell (Wilkesboro, N.C./Wilkes C.C.) posted seven points and two rebounds, sophomore Shanea Wyant (Lafayette, Ind./Lafayette Jefferson) added five points, a career-high three steals and six rebounds and freshman Kimberly Pitman (Avery, N.C./Avery) posted two points and six boards.

An off-balance eight-foot jumper from Hawkins kissed the glass and fell in for Upstate with 13 seconds left, making it 66-65, and the Spartans fouled Victoria Gregoire on the inbounds, setting up a one-and-one free-throw chance for the Dolphins. Gregoire missed the front end and Wyant came down with the board. The Spartans sprinted the court and with Hawkins dished to Johnson, who found Powell on the left baseline. Powell's jumper fell off the rim as time expired.

"I'm very excited," Upstate head coach Tammy George said. "That was a very exciting game to be a part of. That's all we can ask for is a chance to make that last-second shot and we got it. I thought it was a good shot. We didn't draw it up because we didn't have a timeout, but we couldn't have drawn it up any better."

The Spartans worked within one-point in the last four minutes, thanks largely to the play of Whiting, who converted two free throws with 4:29 left to cut the lead to four at 62-58. After trading two points each, and two possessions each, Whiting connected on a three from the left side to make it a one-point game with 1:40 remaining. Regina Omiote dribbled the court and nailed a jumper at the top of the key to answer for Jacksonville, making it 66-63.

Jacksonville held the lead for all of the second half, taking a 55-48 lead with 10:36 left after a 3-pointer from DaVina Hamilton, but four straight points from the Spartans made it a three-point game with 7:55 left. From there, the Dolphins couldn't get further away than sic, with two free throws from Williams giving the Dolphins a six-point advantage with 4:45 left.

Upstate came out strong with Whiting hit a15-foot jumper to start the festivities and the Spartans and Dolphins traded leads throughout the first five minutes. A three-point play by Hawkins gave the Spartans an 11-8 lead with 15:00 remaining in the first half but a 3-pointer from Gregoire tied the score eight seconds later. A layup from Johnson gave Upstate the lead, but Hamilton answered with a trey to five Jacksonville the lead.

A jumper from Hawkins, her 10th points of the night and a three-point play from Cherale Powell gave the Spartans a 5-0 run and their largest lead of the game at 18-14 with 12:31 left in the first half. Gregoire answered with her second of four 3-pointers in the half to stop the run and a 3-point play from Williams with 9:45 left in the half tied the score at 22.

From there, the Dolphins went on a 14-5 run over the next four minutes, capped by a jumper from Omoite to take a nine-point lead. The Spartans owned the last five minutes of the half, though, going on a 10-2 run, capped by a driving layup through the lane by Johnson with two seconds left in the half to cut the margin to 39-38 heading into the locker room.

Upstate held a 37-35 advantage on the boards in the game and forced 17 Dolphin turnovers, while shooting 39 percent (22-for-56) from the field. Jacksonville shot 45 percent (27-for-60) from the field, but helped the Spartans on the foul line, letting Upstate take 24 free throws while taking just eight.

"The kids played hard," George said. "They played according to the game plan. They kept fighting. In the first half, Jacksonville made some runs, but we kept fighting. I am very proud of the kids tonight."

Gregoire finished with 20 points and a game-high seven rebounds for the Dolphins. Omiote finished with six points and four assists and Hamilton added eight points and three assists.

The Spartans will now take to the road, heading for Jacksonville, Fla., and North Florida for a 7 p.m. Monday A-Sun tilt.

Notes
The Spartans are 7-5 all-time on Jan. 25

Upstate is now 6-12 all-time against teams from Florida and 5-4 at the Hodge Center.

Sophomore Courtney Hawkins has reached double figures in 14 of 19 games this year. She has scored 20 or more points in four games.

Sophomore Courtney Hawkins has hit a 3-pointer in each of the last six games and nine of the last 10.

Freshman Tiffany Whiting scored a career-high 12 points. She has hit two 3-pointers in seven games and has hit a trey in each of the last three games.

Junior Ebony Johnson tied a season-high with 14 points.