Wednesday, January 18, 2012

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Lipscomb women’s basketball team heads east this week heading to the “Palmetto State” to take on Atlantic Sun Conference foe USC Upstate on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at the G.B. Hodge Center in Spartanburg, S.C.

The Lady Bison (3-15, 1-6 A-Sun) are looking to pick up their first win against the Spartans (3-15, 2-5 A-Sun) on their home floor having gone 0-4 in four previous attempts. Upstate holds a 4-2 advantage all-time in the series

Lipscomb senior guard Anna Bowers enters the contest within reach of becoming the fourth Lady Bison in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark in the NCAA era.  Bowers heads into Thursday night’s contest with 987 career points, a figure that ranks her fifth among active players in the Atlantic Sun.

Junior wing Hannah Phillips continues to lead the Lady Bison averaging 12.4 points per contest just ahead of Bowers’ 12.1 average.  Philips also leads the team in rebounding with a 5.4 rebound-per-game average as well as assists (43) and steals (29).

The opponent:  Upstate is coming off a buzzer-beater win at North Florida last weekend where the Spartans won 58-57 on a shot Briana Robinson with two seconds remaining.  The Spartans are led by Tee’Ara Copley with a 15.3 points per game average and a 4.1 rebounds per game mark. Paulina Zaveckaite leads Upstate on the boards hauling in 7.1 rebounds a night.

Up next:  The Lady Bison continue A-Sun road action on Saturday afternoon at ETSU at Noon.