Bucs Travel to Upstate for First Big South Road Game

CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Buccaneers wrap up 2022 with their first Big South road trip to take on the USC Upstate Spartans on Saturday. The Bucs (2-10, 0-1 in conference) look to get back on track after an 86-65 loss to the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs at the Buc Dome on Thursday. The Spartans lead the overall series 11-6.

USC Upstate
The Spartans (3-8) are looking to snap a two-game losing streak against the Bucs this weekend. This will be the first conference game for them this season, as their game on Thursday against Winthrop was postponed. USC Upstate will be playing in their first game since December 20, when they fell to Queens University of Charlotte at home 69-48. Much like the Bucs, the Spartans have played a tough schedule this season as well, including two top 15 ACC teams in North Carolina and Virginia Tech as well as Vanderbilt, a member of the Southeastern Conference.

Led by Head Coach, Jason Williams, the Spartans returned 12 out of 13 players from a year ago, when the Spartans won 22 games. That was the most for USC Upstate since becoming a Division I team. Williams is in his first season at the helm for USC Upstate. During his ten years as a Head Coach, he has 171 wins, which makes him the second winningest coach all-time in the state of North Carolina.

Charleston Southern

In Thursday's game, Freshman Carleigh Andrews made her first career start against Gardner-Webb. She finished with four points and two rebounds in 17 minutes on the court.
Freshman continue to shine for the Bucs this season. Catherine Alben led CSU with 16 points on Thursday. It was her second highest point total of the season, as she scored 22 points in the opening-night win against Georgia College back on November 7^th. She is the leader in points per game this season for the Bucs, averaging 9.3 ppg.
Kennedi Jackson had a double-double against Gardner Webb on Thursday, finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds. That is the second time that she has done that this season, as she finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds against The College of Charleston back on December 4^th. She averages 5.6 rebounds per game, which is the best on the team.
This season, the Bucs are averaging 49.4 points per game, while surrendering 75.5 points per game. That is a point differential of -26.1.
The Bucs are shooting 25.7% from the three-point line this season. They shot well above that average against Gardner-Webb, as they went 6/14 from beyond the arc on Thursday. They are shooting 32.8% overall as a team.
Turnovers are something that the Bucs are looking to clean up on Saturday. They are averaging 23.8 turnovers per game, which is the hightest in the Big South.
The Spartans lead the overall series 11-6, but the Bucs lead the overall series 3-2 since both teams have been members of the Big South. The Bucs won the last year's meeting between the two teams 55-53 at the Buc Dome. That ended a three-game losing streak to the Spartans.