Feb. 13, 2008

Gametracker | A-Sun.TV
Complete Belmont Game Notes in PDF Format

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - After playing in `Think Pink' games at Florida Gulf Coast and Stetson last weekend, the USC Upstate women's basketball team will get its chance to host its own breast cancer awareness event, with its own `Think Pink' game against Belmont on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Spartans, who are hosting the event with the American Cancer Society, will wear pink shooting jerseys, shoelaces and headbands.

The Spartans, who enter the game 4-20 overall and 0-11 in the Atlantic Sun, will look to avenge an 89-63 loss in Nashville to the Bruins on Jan. 19. The team will look to both sophomore Courtney Hawkins, who has posted 17.5 points per game in the previous two `Think Pink' games.

Coming into the game at 12-12 overall and 6-5 in the Atlantic Sun, Belmont, the defending A-Sun Champions has shaken off a 2-5 start to go 10-7 since, including an 81-74 win over first-place Jacksonville on Monday.

Senior Brooke Sunday leads the Bruins, averaging 13.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. She is second in the conference in field goal percentage, knocking down 56.8 percent (121-213) of her shots. Junior Jessica Bobbitt is a welcome compliment inside for the Bruins, averaging 10.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. She is 17th in the conference in scoring and tied for fourth in rebounding.

Spartan Notables
• This is the last of three straight `Think Pink' games for the Spartans, who were the road team for Florida Gulf Coast's and Stetson's events.
• The Spartans are 6-4 all-time on Feb. 16, last beating USC Aiken, 56-51, in 2005.
• Sophomore Courtney Hawkins has scored in double figures in 18 of 24 games this year and has posted 20 or more five times.
• Sophomore Courtney Hawkins leads the A-Sun in free throws made (94) and attempted (120).
• Junior Ebony Johnson became the 32nd player in school history to reach 75 in a career at Stetson.
• In the two previous games donning a pink shooting shirt for warm-ups for the `Think Pink' games, freshman Tiffany Whiting has averaged 8.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
• Freshman Tiffany Whiting is currently tied for sixth in the Upstate freshman record book with her 29 trifectas.
• Underclassmen (freshman and sophomores) have accounted for 60 percent of Upstate's minutes and 68 percent of its points this season.
• Junior Ebony Johnson is the only player in the country 5-7 or shorter that is averaging 7.0 rebounds per game.
• In the last meeting with Belmont, both junior Ebony Johnson and sophomore Courtney Hawkins reached 400 career points.