Feb. 7, 2010

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SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Winners of eight of its last 10 games, the USC Upstate women's basketball team will look to rebound on Monday night after one of the toughest losses in the Tammy George era when the Spartans head to Mercer's University Center in a matchup of both third-place teams in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Tip is set for 5 p.m. with the men's teams completing the doubleheader in the nightcap.

Upstate (14-8 overall, 8-5 A-Sun) is coming off a one-point loss at Kennesaw State in which the Owls scored the winning bucket with 5.8 seconds left. The Bears will provide a similar challenge, as the Spartans have never won in Macon, Ga., in two previous meetings.

Upstate will have a player on a quest to tie a school-record in the game, however, as junior Chelsea McMillan looks for a record-tying sixth straight double-double. With 12 on the season, McMillan is second in the A-Sun in the category.

The Bears (11-11 overall, 8-5 A-Sun) are also coming off a one-point loss at Kennesaw State, theirs coming on Thursday in a 52-51 defeat.

Spartan Notables
• The Spartans are 6-6 all-time on Feb. 8, last falling Augusta State, 62-54, in 2003.

• Sophomore Kendra Wallace needs to hit two 3-pointers to become the second player in school history to record two 50-trey seasons.

• Junior Chelsea McMillan leads the A-Sun with 15 10-rebound games.

• Junior Chelsea McMillan needs 13 rebounds to enter the school's single-season top 10 list ... Her 236 rebounds establish a new D-I era record.

• Sophomore Lesley Daniel has hit a career-high 21 3-pointers this season.

• Both freshman Tee'Ara Copney and sophomore Kendra Wallace need just one more steal to reach 50 in their careers.

• Freshman Tee'Ara Copney needs a steal to become the 37th player and 11th freshman in school history to reach 50 in a season.

• USC Upstate leads the A-Sun in steals, averaging 12.14 steals per game ... the team has seven players averaging at least 1.0 steal per game.

• Upstate is 4-0 this season when playing on Monday, beating Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, ETSU and at Longwood on Mondays.

Lucky No. 14
After a five-trey game against North Florida, sophomore Kendra Wallace is in range to become the seventh player in school history to reach 50 in a season and the second player to do so in two seasons in her career. Wallace, who need just two 3-pointers to reach 50 after hitting 72 as a freshman, is already one of five players, along with Dawn Bowden, Stephanie Feyes, Courtney Bradley and Paula Blackwell to reach 40 3-pointers twice.

Double-Double Trouble
Junior Chelsea McMillan has posted five straight double-doubles, tying an NCAA-era record, and she is one of three players in the A-Sun, along with ETSU's Siarre Evans and Belmont's Haley Nelson, to average a double-double on the season. Averaging 14.4 points and a conference-best 10.7 rebounds per game, McMillan is second in the A-Sun and 16th nationally with 12 double-doubles on the season. McMillan's five-game streak of double-doubles is the longest since Tammy Smith posted five in a row from Nov. 23-Dec. 7, 1996. McMillan's 12 double-doubles on the season are the most since Danielle Edwards posted 14 in 2006-07. Gwen Proctor holds the school record, posting six in a row from Jan 9-20, 1986.

Fresh Into The Rankings
Freshman Tee'Ara Copney, thanks to 52 points in two games in Jacksonville, leaped into the top 25 in the A-Sun in scoring. Now, the rookie from Asheville, N.C., is the top scoring freshman in the A-Sun, passing Campbell's Tonisha Baker after her second 23-point game against Jacksonville on Feb. 1. Copney, at 9.8 points per game, is five-tenths of a point ahead of Baker, who averages 9.3 points. Copney also leads all freshmen in steals, averaging 2.23 steals per game.

Tops On The Glass
For the first time this season or in the D-I era, a USC Upstate player leads the A-Sun in rebounding. Following Jan. 27's play, junior Chelsea McMillan took over the league lead on the glass, and she currently averages 10.7 rebounds per game. One of three players in the A-Sun averaging a double-double, McMillan holds the lead by two-tenths of a rebound over ETSU's Siarre Evans and four-tenths over Belmont's Haley Nelson. McMillan was tied for 18th in the nation in rebounding in the latest national rankings, released Thursday.