College of Charleston
USC Upstate
Luna-Castro Leads Women?s Hoops to 61-60 Victory over Upstate
12/31/2014 3:09:00 AM | Women's Basketball
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Jacqueline Luna-Castro scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead the College of Charleston women's basketball team to a 61-60 victory over the USC Upstate Spartans on Tuesday night in front of a strong home crowd at TD Arena.
As a team, the Cougars (2-9) forced 16 turnovers and scored 38 points in the paint as The College overcame an 11-point second half deficit to secure the victory. Shooting 46% from the field, the Cougars were also bolstered offensively by Christy Hewatt and Bre Bolden, who combined for 28 points on the night.
Playing against a team expected to compete for an Atlantic-Sun championship this season, the Cougars came out firing in the opening stages of the first half, taking a 14-3 lead following a step-back jumper from senior Erin Hall. The Cougars were still up 20-12 after a basket from Luna-Castro with 7:28 to play in the stanza, but the Spartans would soon ride a 12-2 run to tie the game at 24-24 with just 2:42 remaining. After trading baskets, Upstate managed to score on back to back possessions with under a minute left to take 30-26 lead in to the locker room at halftime.
The second half saw some of the most exciting basketball of the season as the Spartans – buoyed by great play from junior forward Brittany Starling (30 points, 14 rebounds) – quickly jumped out to a nine-point, 39-30 lead at the under-16 media timeout. After extending their advantage to as many as 11 following a jumper from A'Lexxus Davis, the Spartans soon found baskets difficult to come by as the Cougars stepped up their defensive intensity, utilizing a match-up zone to cause problems from the visitors.
After cutting the deficit to just four after a made free throw from freshman point guard Shiclasia Brown, the Cougars soon took their first lead of the second half courtesy of a steal and lay-up from sophomore Bre Bolden. From there, the action was relentless, as both teams traded baskets and battled on the glass until another trip to the charity stripe from Brown gave the Cougars a 59-58 lead with just 1:18 to play in the game. The Spartans would never again lead as two clutch free throws from Hall put the game on ice, securing the Cougars second win of the season, 61-60.
The result marks the Cougars third win over their in-state rivals in the last season and a half, and extends the Cougars' commanding series lead to 16-1.
Up next for the Cougars is their 2014-15 Colonial Athletic Association opener again Hofstra at the Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex in Hempstead, N.Y., on Sunday, Jan. 4 at 7:00 p.m.
CONNECTING WITH THE COUGARS
You can keep up with all things College of Charleston Women's Basketball by following us on Twitter and Vine @CofCWBasketball, as well as Instagram @CofCWBB. You can also like us on Facebook
