Feb. 11, 2008

Final Stats

DeLAND, Fla. - Sophomore Courtney Hawkins (Greer, S.C./Greer) posted a game-high 16 points for the USC Upstate women's basketball team, but it wasn't enough to withstand a Stetson team that shot 48.5 percent from the field en route to a 64-51 win in Atlantic Sun Conference action at the Edmunds Center on Monday night.

Hawkins led the way with 16 points, four rebounds, two 3-pointers and two assists for the Spartans as she became the 32nd player in school history to reach 350 points in a season. Freshman Tiffany Whiting (Troutman, N.C./South Iredell) added six points and seven rebounds and both sophomore Shanea Wyant (Lafayette, Ind./Lafayette Jefferson) and junior Ebony Johnson (Columbia, S.C./Ridgeview) each added seven points. Junior Kelly Westfield (St. Petersburg, Fla./St. Petersburg College) posted five points and a career-high three blocked shots.

"It was the same old story," Upstate head coach Tammy George said. "We played intense and stayed in the game in the first half, but we weren't able to keep up that same level of play in the second half. Stetson was able to take advantage of that in the second half."

Stetson (5-19 overall, 3-8 A-Sun) posted a 15-1 run that occupied the middle part of the second half to take the Spartans (4-20 overall, 0-11 A-Sun) out of the game. Ayesha Barkley and Sharnesha Smith led the run for the Hatters, as each posted six points. Upstate could draw no closer than nine the rest of the game.

The Hatters started off the second half with four straight points to take a 28-24 lead, but Upstate responded with a 7-2 run capped by a jumper from Hawkins to make it 31-40 with 15:25 left. The teams exchanged the lead until buckets from the Hatters' Jessica Connor and Tierra Brown put them up by five with 12:50 remaining. Whiting responded with a 3-pointer to cut the lead to two points with 12:31 left.

The first half was tightly contested with neither team taking more than a four-point lead during the half. The Spartans controlled the lead for much of the half, falling behind just twice, at 10-9 and 24-22 before Wyant took the ball at the top of the key and drove the lane for an easy layup with four seconds left to tie the game going into the half.

The Spartans took the largest lead of the game at 16-12 thanks to two 3-pointers from Hawkins, who drew open looks after dribble penetration.

Both Ashli Jackson and Tierra Brown posted six points in the half for the Hatters. The Spartans got six points from Hawkins and five from Wyant. Barkley led the Hatters with 14 points and eight rebounds and Brown added 10 points and three steals. Smith posted 12 points and three steals and Jackson and Brittany Carannante each added eight points.

USC Upstate will return home to host its `Think Pink' game on Saturday when A-Sun foe Belmont heads to the Hodge Center for a 1 p.m. showdown as part of a doubleheader with the men's programs.

Notes
The Spartans are 6-7 all-time on Feb. 11.

This was the second of three straight `Think Pink' games for the Spartans. Upstate will host its own `Think Pink' game in conjunction with the American Cancer Society on Saturday against Belmont at 1 p.m.

Senior Jessica McGlothlen hit her first field goal of the season with 17:45 left in the first half, a hook shot on the baseline for the game's first points.

Sophomore Courtney Hawkins has posted double-figure scoring efforts in 18 of 24 games this year.

Sophomore Courtney Hawkins became the 32nd player in school history to reach 350 career points with her 13th point of the night. She now has 353 points on the year.

Freshman Tiffany Whiting posted a career-high seven rebounds. She surpassed her career-high of six set at IUPUI on Nov. 21, 2007.

Freshman Tiffany Whiting hit two 3-pointers for Upstate, the 10th time this season she posted at least two trifectas. Whiting also tied Sarah Jansen (1999-00) for sixth in Upstate's freshman record book with 29 3-pointers this year.

Junior Kelly Westfield posted a career-high three blocked shots, surpassing her previous best of one, which she had done three times this season.