Saturday, February 11, 2006

LADY SAINTS STAY UNDEFEATED WITH 92-75 WIN OVER SPARTANS

Spartanburg, SC - North Georgia got balanced scoring and forced USC Upstate into 28 turnovers to take a 92-75 victory over the Spartans Saturday on Hall of Fame Day at the Hodge Center, staying undefeated in Peach Belt Conference play.

North Georgia improves to 20-3 overall and a perfect 16-0 in league play.  The Lady Saints are the first team to go 16-0 in the Peach Belt Conference since Columbus State ran the table in 2000-20001. With one more win, North Georgia will tie the record for most conference wins in a season. Kennesaw State University finished 17-1 in the 1996-1997 season.

The Lady Saints travel  to Columbus, GA, to take on Columbus State Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in the Lumpkin Center. USC Upstate falls to 12-10 overall and 9-6 in the conference.  The Spartans travel to Georgia College & State University Wednesday for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off in Milledgeville.

Katie Williamson and Megan Huffman each scored 20 points to lead North Georgia. The Lady Saints shot 42.6% from the floor, including hitting 11-of-20 from the three-point arc. USC Upstate shot better from the field, hitting 46.0% of its shots, but were just 3-of-17 from the three-point arc.

The game was nip and tuck for the first 14 minutes of the first half until North Georgia, leading by four, scored six straight points on two three-pointers to open a 10-point lead, 31-21, with 5:53 to play. Though the Spartans rallied to cut the lead to six with 2:31 to play before the half, North Georgia used a 10-4 spurt to take control of the game with a 47-35 halftime lead. Huffman had 14 of her 20 points in the first half for the Lady Saints.

In the second half, USC Upstate cut the lead to nine points twice early in the half, but North Georgia used a 12-4 run to open a 17-point lead, 63-46, with 14:07 remaining in the game to put the game away. The closest the Spartans would get the rest of the way was 13 points.

Syretha Marble finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, and five steals for North Georgia. Jenica Johnson added a solid 13 points and five boards for the Lady Saints.

The loss overshadowed another tremendous performance by USC Upstate senior center and Spartanburg native Yakeeshia Ross. Ross, despite playing nearly the entire game with foul trouble, finished with a game-high 23 points and 12 rebounds for her 13th double-double of the season. She is chasing the school’s all-time rebounding record of 932 held by Yvette Moore and set in 1985. Ross now has 909 rebounds and needs just 23 boards to tie and 24 to pass Moore. Ross already owns the school’s all-time and single-season blocked shots records and has reached 1,000 points in her career.

Lele Miles finished with 13 points and five rebounds off the bench for USC Upstate, while Toya Shuler added seven points, five assists, and two steals for the Spartans

Box Score

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