Saturday, January 07, 2012

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Junior guard Tee'Ara Copney (Asheville, N.C.) of the Upstate women's basketball team (1-14, 0-4 A-Sun) tallied her 1,000th-career-point as the Spartans dropped a 74-63 decision to Atlantic Sun Conference foe Kennesaw State (7-9, 2-3 A-Sun) today inside the Hodge Center.

Copney entered today's contest needing 11 points to reach 1,000 in her three-year career at Upstate. Her jumper with 42 seconds left in the first period gave her exactly 1,000. She went on to lead the Spartans with 22 points on the day, amassing 1,011 career-points.

Upstate played a competitive first half as the Owls took a 33-29 lead into the locker room at the break. The Spartans kept things close during the first seven minutes of the second stanza. However, after pulling within four-points off of a jumper from Upstate freshman Brianna Robinson (Columbia, S.C.), KSU went on an 18-6 run. The largest lead the Owls had was 17 with 5:28 to go in the second half and then again with 2:23 to play.

A trio of Spartans scored in double-figures today as Copney's 22 points marked her fourth 20-plus scoring effort this season and 12th time posting double-digits. Robinson totaled 15 points, while freshman Shelby Hicks (Greeneville, Tenn.) registered a career-high of 10 points.