Lady Crusaders down USC Upstate in season opener
Posted by The Skyliner on November 17th, 2011Billy Cannada
Senior Writer
Christina Carlis, senior business administration, found herself in the zone as her 27-point night gave the Lady Crusaders their first win of the season last Friday, Nov. 11 in Spartanburg, S.C.
North Greenville cruised to a 75-57 win over Division I opponent USC Upstate behind a strong offensive effort.
“This was a great win and I am very proud of the girls and the way they responded,” said head coach Jayne Arledge in an interview with ngcrusaders.com “This should surely go down as one of our biggest wins in the last few years.”
A win did not come easy as the Lady Crusaders had to battle through a first half that saw five lead changes.
After leading by eight at one point during the first 20 minutes, North Greenville was only able to manage a single-point advantage going into halftime.
Both teams battled in the second half, but it was the Lady Crusaders that pulled away in the end behind a 26-6 run and a massive offensive night.
Four Lady Crusaders finished in double figures, including Carlis, Karly Stache, senior mathematics, Krisceda Cotton, junior sport management, and Erin Gray, senior business administration, who had 11, 12, and 10 points respectively.
Carlis, who led all scorers with 27 points, went six for nine from the field and buried 15 out of 18 free throws in the victory.
As a team, North Greenville shot an impressive 43 percent, and managed to out rebound Upstate 45-34.
Arledge says this is exactly the kind of night she wanted to see from her team to start a new season.
“I was very pleased with how we played,” she said. “The teamwork was awesome and we played together.”
North Greenville took on Johnson C. Smith College yesterday, and will return to Tigerville early next week with games against Emmanuel College and Southern Wesleyan University.
Tip off against Emmanuel is set for 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 21 in Hayes Gymnasium.
Tags: Fall 2011, Vol. 113 - Issue 9