Converse Drops Season Opener
Spartanburg, SC — The Converse basketball team lost its season opener to cross town rival USC-Upstate. The Spartans opened the game with a 14-2 run and never looked back from there. Kianna Smith scored a game high 23 points to lead USC-Upstate to a 80-50 win. Danielle Edwards chipped in with 18 points and 13 rebounds for the visitors. Lillian Frazier led the All-Stars with 14 points.
The Spartans held on to a double digit lead for most of the first half. The All-Stars cut the lead to 9 with 38 seconds left in the first half. Whitaker’s jumper brought Converse within 9 points. Upstate’s Smith was fouled right before the half to increase the lead back to 11 points. Converse trailed at halftime by the score of 33-22. In the first half, the All-Stars shot 29% from the field and 58% from the free throw line. The Spartans were 14 for 34 (41%) from the field and shot 57% from the charity stripe. Converse turned the ball over 19 times in the first half leading to 16 Spartan points.
In the second half, Upstate continued to build on their lead. The Spartans shot 35% from the floor in the second half and went 59% from the line going 19 for 32. Converse shot 30% in the second half. The All-Stars only had seven trips to the foul line in the second half but drained five of those attempts. Converse’s 10 second half turnovers led to 13 points for the Spartans. USC-Upstate only had four turnovers in the game, all of which came in the first half.
Carla Kantara had a team high nine rebounds for the All-Stars. The Spartan’s Shavon Thompson also hit double digits with 10 points on the night. Both Spartanburg squads will travel to Tusculum College this weekend for the Ferguson Enterprises Tournament. Each team will do battle with the host school as well as West Liberty State.
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