Women's Basketball Opens Big South Conference Play Against USC Upstate Thursday Night

12/16/2020 12:51:00 PM

Rock Hill, S.C. – For the first time in over nine months, women's basketball will host USC Upstate to open Big South Conference play on Dec.1 7 and 18. Both games are set to tip-off at 6 p.m.

WINTHROP (1-2, 0-0 Big South Conference)

vs. USC Upstate (2-3)	Thursday & Friday, Dec. 17-18, 2020
Location	Rock Hill, SC \| Winthrop Coliseum
Television/Live Stream	ESPN+ - GAME 1 \| GAME 2
Radio	None
Live Stats	StatBroadcast - GAME 1 \| GAME 2
Game Notes	Winthrop \| USC Upstate
Social Media	@WinthropwWBB \| @WinthropWBB \| Facebook (Winthrop Athletics) #EverStand #ROCKtheHILL
Shop Winthrop Gear	Online Store

WINTHROP PROBABLE STARTERS
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG
G	0	Maleeah Langstaff	5-11	Jr.	11..3	4.3	2.3
G	3	Madison Ervin	5-7	Gr..	8.3	2.7	1.0
G	12	Myra Strickland	5-6	So.	15.3	2.3	2.0
F	32	Sierra Hunter	6-0	So.	2.0	7.3	2.0
F	33	Jaelyn Royal	6-1	Jr.	3.0	4.7	0.3

SERIES HISTORY
The Eagles and Spartans will meet for the 21st and 22nd time in history on Dec. 17 and 18 at the Winthrop Coliseum. These teams met three times in 2019-20, with Upstate winning two of those meetings. These teams closed out the regular season at the Coliseum where Upstate won, 66-59. They returned three days later for the First Round of the Big South Tournament and defeated the Eagles once again, 60-57. Winthrop leads the all-time series 11-9.

WINTHROP EAGLES
Winthrop women's basketball is coming off a 89-59 loss on Dec. 8 to the College of Charleston to close out their non-conference schedule for this season. The Eagles led after 10 minutes of play but were hurt by 12 turnovers in the second quarter, 29 in the game. Junior Maleeah Langstaff recorded a career-high 18 points, shooting 67 percent from the field. Madison Ervin also finished the game in double-figures, recording 13 points of her own.

NEW LEADER AT THE HELM
Semeka Randall Lay has taken over the Winthrop women's basketball program after serving as Associate Head Coach last season. Randall Lay in a 2000 graduate of the University of Tennessee, where she was an integral part of Tennessee's 1998 NCAA Championship team that went 39-0, averaging 15.9 points a game while earning honorable mention All-America recognition. She was drafted 17th overall in the 2001 WNBA draft by the Seattle Storm and spent four years in the league. Randall Lay brings eight years of head coaching experience with an overall career record of 67-176.

USC UPSTATE SPARTANS
The Spartans were selected to finish 8th in the Big South preseason poll after a 10-20 2019-20 season, where they went 4-16 in conference play. Upstate lost their top two scorers and rebounders from last season, but return seniors Anda Kuzmina and Michaela Gibbons. Kuzmina played in all 30 games, making 14 starts. averaging four points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. Gibbons started all 30 games for the Spartans and lead the team with 42 3-pointers last season. The Spartans are lead by first-year head coach Becky Burke. Burke played collegiate basketball at the University of Louisville where she helped her team to three NCAA Tournament appearances. Before taking over the Spartans program, she was the head coach for two seasons at the University of Charleston in West Virginia. The Spartans enter Thursday's contest with a 2-3 record, coming off a 73-39 loss to Old Dominion. Gillette College transfer Molly Coleman was the only Upstate player to finish in double-figures with 10 points. Maya Timberlake led the squad with five boards. Upstate opened the season with back-to-back SEC loses to Auburn and Alabama before winning big against St. Andrews and Flagler.

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