By: by Jason Hanes
Box Score
KENNESAW, Ga. - Angie Smith's three-point play with 5.8 seconds left proved to be the difference as the Kennesaw State women's basketball team earned a, 69-68, win over USC Upstate in an Atlantic Sun Conference game Saturday evening at the KSU Convocation Center.
After a defensive stand ended in Montinique Nixon's fifth steal of the game, the Lady Owls called timeout to set up the winning play. According to Smtih, the play was designed to go to one of the post players, but when the sophomore beat her defender and saw an open lane, she decided to take the shot, drawing a foul at the same time. "I don't want to sound cocky, but I knew when I let it go, it was going in," said Smith.
"I knew she was going to make the shot," KSU head coach Colby Tilley said. "We really have a lot of confidence in Angie in situations like that."
Smith drained the free-throw, giving the Lady Owls the lead for the first time since the 16:51 mark of the second half. The Spartans (14-8, 8-5) still had a chance to win, but Tee'Ara Copney's shot at the buzzer was off the mark, giving KSU the win.
KSU trailed by just a point at the end of the first 20 minutes, taking advantage of 6-of-14 shooting from 3-point territory. After the Lady Owls took a 43-42 lead, the Spartans went on a 17-5 run, opening up a 59-48 lead after a bucket by Courtney Hawkins. Upstate stretched the advantage to 11, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Brandi Jones cut the deficit to five, 62-57, with seven minutes to go. With momentum wearing black and gold, two turnovers by the Spartans led to buckets by Nixon and Gia Lockett, cutting the Upstate lead to one with 6:15 to go.
Still, it appeared that Upstate might hold on as KSU missed golden opportunities to take the lead, both at the foul line and on shots from the field. Eventually, the Spartans used four free-throws to open up a five-point lead, 68-63, with 2:11 to go.
That set the stage for a KSU rally. With a tick over a minute to go, Lockett was fouled shooting a 3-pointer, and the senior calmly stepped to the charity stripe and hit all three shots to cut the lead to two. The Spartans had a chance to put the game away, but a layup was missed, and after an offensive turnover, Nixon came away with her final steal of the game to set the stage for Smith's heroics.
The game featured 11 ties and 17 lead changes. Upstate dominated in the paint, scoring 42 of its 68 points on the inside. Yet even though Upstate had the size advantage, KSU recorded four blocks to two for the Spartans and had four players record seven rebounds a piece.
The win gives the Lady Owls (7-16, 4-10) a two-game cushion over Lipscomb for the final spot in the A-Sun Tournament at the end of the season. It also continued a streak for the Lady Owls of wins in Kennesaw over the Spartans, as Upstate's last win on KSU's home court came Dec. 18, 1993.
Jones and Lockett each scored a game-high 14 points to lead the Lady Owls, while Smith had 13. Smith, Lockett Nixon, and Tamasha Bolden each had seven rebounds for the Lady Owls in the win.
Upstate was led with a double-double by Chelsea McMillan, as she scored 12 points and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds.
The Lady Owls will return to action this Thursday when they travel to Buies Creek, N.C., to take on Campbell in an A-Sun contest.
