Feb. 9, 2008

Final Stats

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Sophomore Courtney Hawkins (Greer, S.C./Greer) continued her torrid scoring pace with 19 points on the strength of a 6-for-7 night from the free-throw line, but the USC Upstate women's basketball team couldn't get past a hot-shooting Florida Gulf Coast team that went 7-for-9 from three-point land in the second half to win, 71-45, at Alico Arena on Saturday night.

After heading into the locker room down by just five, Upstate (4-19 overall, 0-10 A-Sun) wasn't able to withstand a 28-6 run that ate the first 9:23 of the second half. The Eagles (13-7 overall, 8-2 A-Sun) used eight points during the run from De La Torre and six from Adrianne McNally to help take a 59-32 lead. From there, the Spartans weren't able to get closer than 20.

"I liked a lot of what we were able to do in the first half, our resiliency to keep fighting back against one of the best teams in the league," Upstate head coach Tammy George said. "Unfortunately, it's the same story as before. We haven't been able to put two halves of basketball together in the conference season."

The Spartans got a 10-point game from freshman Tiffany Whiting (Troutman, N.C./South Iredell), who drained two 3-pointers and added four rebounds. Junior Cherale Powell (Wilkesboro, N.C./Wilkes C.C.) added seven points and seven rebounds and junior Ebony Johnson (Columbia, S.C./Ridgeview) posted her second straight 10-rebound game. Johnson finished with five points, three steals and a career-high tying four assists.

FGCU built a 16-3 lead in the first five minutes, thanks to eight points from Delia De La Torre. From there, the Spartans were able to close within five at 21-16 thanks to a 13-5 run speared on by a three-point play from Johnson and seven points from Hawkins, including a 3-pointer.

The Eagles scored the next four points before a 6-2 run by the Spartans made it a five-point game at 27-22 after an easy layup from sophomore Shanea Wyant (Lafayette, Ind./Lafayette Jefferson). The Spartans cut the lead to four points after two free throws from Whiting made it 30-26 with 1:23 left in the first half, but an Eagle free throw with 0.4 seconds left in the half made it 31-26.

De La Torre led the Eagles with 16 points in the half and Ashley Haegele posted five assists and six rebounds in the half. Hawkins posted 12 points and three rebounds for Upstate and Johnson added eight rebounds. Whiting posted five points and a 3-pointer in the half.

De La Torre led the Eagles with a career-high 24 points and three blocks. McNally added 11 points and 10 rebounds and Amanda Pierce also posted 11 points. Shannon Murphy posted 10 points and Dermyer posted 10 assists in the game.

The Spartans wrap up their Florida road trip on Monday when they travel to Stetson for a 7 p.m. Atlantic Sun Conference game.

Notes

The Spartans are 6-6 all-time on Feb. 9.

Sophomore Courtney Hawkins streak of a steal in 21 consecutive games was snapped.

Sophomore Courtney Hawkins has reached double figures in 17 of 22 games this year. She posted her third straight game with 15 or more points posting 19. She has 15 or more points in seven of the last eight games.

Freshman Tiffany Whiting connected on two 3-pointers during the game, giving her 27 during the season, which passed Brenda Wofford (1998-99) for seventh in the freshman record book. She is two behind Sarah Jansen (1999-00) for sixth place. She has hit a 3-pointer in six of the last seven games.

Whiting is fourth on the team with six games scoring in double figures.

Upstate was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the first half and went 14-for-17 (82.4 percent) from the charity stripe during the game. Hawkins led the way, going 6-for-7. She has hit 27 of her last 29 (93 percent) free throws.