DeLand, Fla. ? Junior center Ayesha Barkley (East Orange, N.J.) scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Stetson women's basketball team (5-19, 3-8 Atlantic Sun) to a 64-51 victory over visiting USC Upstate (4-20, 0-11 A-Sun) Monday evening at the Edmunds Center. 925 fans, the largest Edmunds Center crowd for a women's basketball game in 19 years, saw the Hatters win on Pack the House/Think Pink Night to support the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's and the Susan G. Komen Foundation's fight against breast cancer.
After a sluggish first half that saw the score tied 24-24 at the intermission, the Hatters eventually broke away from the Spartans in the second half. After USC Upstate's Courtney Hawkins made a jumper with 15:28 left to put her team up 33-32, Stetson went on a 20-4 run over the next eight minutes to take a 15-point lead and command of the game for good. Barkley scored eight of those points. The Hatters used a stout defensive effort to hold USC Upstate without a field goal for six of those eight minutes.
The Spartans got within nine points with 1:12 to go on an Ebony Johnson free throw, but freshman guard Brittany Carannante (Clearwater, Fla./Clearwater HS) would respond with an acrobatic basket in traffic on the other end to restore the double-digit lead and end the visitors' thoughts of a rally.
Barkley added two steals and blocked her 60th career shot to move into sole possession of fifth place in Stetson program history. Junior guard Sharnesha Smith (Kingsland, Ga.) added 12 points and three steals to score in double figures for the fifth consecutive game. Freshman guard Tierra Brown (Orlando, Fla./First Academy) made it three Hatters in double figures with 10 points. She contributed four rebounds, three assists and three steals as well.
Sophomore forward Ashli Jackson (Opelika, Ala.) and Carannante scored eight points each. Jackson also had four boards, two steals and her first career block while Carannante recorded two steals and blocked two shots for the second time this season. Freshman post Jessica Conner (Cocoa, Fla./Cocoa HS) tied Barkley for the game high with eight rebounds, four of them on the offensive glass, to go along with six points.
Hawkins led all scorers with 16 points to lead the Spartans. Shanea Wyant and Johnson scored seven points each while Tiffany Whiting pulled down seven rebounds and Kelly Westfield blocked three shots.
Stetson is back in action Saturday for a 5 p.m. Atlantic Sun contest at Mercer. Bill Topping will broadcast the game live on the official website of Stetson Athletics, www.gohatters.com.
