Feb. 6, 2008

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Complete FGCU Game Notes in PDF Format

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - During its first NCAA Division I season, the USC Upstate women's basketball team has embarked on its furthest journey North in school history to Kentucky and now, they are set to head the furthest South in school history, heading to Atlantic Sun foe Florida Gulf Coast for a 7 p.m. Saturday contest.

Upstate, which enters the game at 4-18 overall and 0-9 will look for the same great offensive production it got out of sophomore Courtney Hawkins and junior Ebony Johnson last week. Hawkins averaged 19.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals in the last two games and Johnson added 15.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.

Florida Gulf Coast enters the weekend one of the hottest teams in the Atlantic Sun Conference, having won its last seven games and standing third in the league with a 12-7 overall mark and a 7-2 conference record.

Senior Delia De La Torre leads the Eagles, averaging 14.1 points per game and adding 5.3 rebounds. She is third in the conference in scoring and 16th in rebounding. She is also third in field goal percentage, hitting 51 percent of her shots.

The 2007 NCAA Division II runners-up, FGCU is in its first season as a member of Division I and the A-Sun, like USC Upstate.

Spartan Notables
• The Spartans are 6-6 all-time on Feb. 9, last dropping a 78-50 decision to Lander in 2005.
• Sophomore Courtney Hawkins has scored in double figures in 16 of 22 games this year and has posted 20 or more five times.
• Sophomore Courtney Hawkins has recorded a steal in each of the last 21 games, with her last game without a theft coming in the season-opener at Kentucky on Nov. 10.
• Since Dec. 6, junior Ebony Johnson has seen her scoring average rise from 6.4 to 8.2 points per game. In the last two games, she has averaged 15.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.
• Freshman Tiffany Whiting became the eighth freshman in school history to hit 25 3-pointers in a season against Kennesaw State.
• Sophomore Shanea Wyant crossed the 200-career point mark with her six points against Kennesaw State.
• Freshman Kimberly Pitman is second on the team with seven blocked shots and is also second in conference games in rebounding (5.0).
• Junior Ebony Johnson is the only player in the country 5-7 or shorter that is averaging 7.0 rebounds per game.
• Sophomore Courtney Hawkins became the second player this season to reach 500 career points, joining junior Courtney Bradley.