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SPARTANBURG, S.C. – For the first time since the 2008-09 season, the Kennesaw State women's basketball team opened the Atlantic Sun Conference slate with a win as the Owls used a complete team effort to earn a 72-63 victory over USC Upstate on Saturday (Jan.. 10) night at the Hodge Center.
 
"Any win on the road is a great, great, great win, but it was a team effort," said head coach Nitra Perry. "Quote. "We had two people a point away from double-digit scoring, Karly and Aareon had eight points apiece and even bigger than that was the rebounding effort. We did not do a really great job of taking care of the ball, but I think that is something to build on in the beginning of conference play. In the first half Deandrea was phenomenal and hit some big threes to open it up and Jas came through in the second half and finished it off. Kristina continues to do the small things, while still getting it done with rebounding and scoring. At one point I know we were winning by 21 and that just comes with experience and understanding conference play really is that you have to play all the way to the end. I still think even with that, to beat Upstate, who was picked to finish fourth in the league and beating them by nine is not too bad. I look at how many free throws we missed, but to get to the free throw line that many times is a positive and a negative. Free throws are something we can definitely fix, so we are just going to go back to the drawing board on that and get ready for Northern Kentucky."
 
"To start the conference schedule with a win and road win nonetheless is huge for us. It is a huge confidence builder and it gives us a taste of what the conference is going to be like on the road."
 
Sophomore Deandrea Sawyers led the Owls (12-4, 1-0) with a game-high 21 points, including three three-pointers and a career-high five assists, while junior Jasmine McAllister posted her league-leading ninth double-double of the season with 17 points, including 14 second-half points and 11 rebounds.
 
The Owls jumped out to a 7-2 lead to open the contest, before the Spartans (8-8, 0-1) knotted the score at 7-7 with 13:21 remaining in the first half.
 
After some back-and-forth action, Upstate took its first lead of the game at 16-15 with six and a half minutes to go. Both teams then traded the lead over the next four minutes, before the Owls ended the half on an 8-0 run, including back-to-back three pointers from Sawyers, the latter coming at the buzzer to send KSU into the break leading 33-26.
 
The Owls' momentum continued out of intermission as KSU started the second half on a 16-3 run, including holding the Spartans to one field goal in the first seven minutes of the half and scoring nine-straight points to build a 49-29 advantage.
 
KSU twice pushed its lead to the largest of the game at 21 points and led 61-41 with 7:14 remaining on the clock when the Spartans used a 16-3 run over the next three minutes to close within 64-57 with a little over four minutes left in regulation.
 
Four-straight points from Sawyers and McAllister pushed the lead back to 11 at 68-57 and after trading baskets, senior Kristina Wells cemented the 72-63 win to snap a four-game winless streak against the Spartans.
 
As a team, KSU registered a 47.5 percent from the field on 28-of-59 shooting, including a blistering 53.8 percent (14-of-26) in the second half and drained 7-of-17 three-pointers for a 41.2 percentage from beyond the arc.
 
Wells was one point off of a double-double with nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds, while senior Valescia Dixon registered a season-high nine points. Junior Karly Frye and sophomore Aareon Smith also added eight points each.
 
The Owls dominated the Spartans on the glass, 48-34, including 17 offensive rebounds which KSU turned into 19 second chance points.  
 
KSU dished out 15 assists on the night, with Smith dishing out a career-high four assists and Frye handing out three helpers.
 
Sharmayne Edwards led the Spartans with 15 points, while Kristen Dickerson added 14 in the loss.
 
The Owls return to the KSU Convocation Center for their Atlantic Sun Conference home opener on Wednesday, Jan. 14 to take on Northern Kentucky at 7 p.m. ET in an ESPN3-broadcasted contest.
 
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