For the seventh-straight season, Winter Park will serve as the
host city for the Rollins College Thanksgiving Tournament, played
this year Nov. 23-24 at Warden Arena. Division II women's
basketball teams from across the nation will be in Central Florida
and for the first time, the event changes from a Classic to
Tournament format.
Rollins faces Tusculum in the opener at 1 p.m. on Nov. 23,
followed by Charleston against Missouri S&T at 3 p.m.
Saturday's consolation game is slated for 1 p.m. with the
championship set for 3 p.m.
All games will be video streamed live on the Tars Sports Network
at RollinsSports.com. Robert Segal and Victor Anderson will be on
the call for Tars games and Anderson will be flying solo for the
other two match-ups. Live stats will also be available on TSN and
at TarsStats.com on mobile devices.
ROLLINS (4-0) AT A GLANCE: Ranked fourth in the
nation, Rollins rides a four-game winning streak into its own
Thanksgiving Tournament. They swept through the Florida Tech tip
off classic with wins over Puerto Rico Mayaguez and Puerto Rico Rio
Piedras. A week later, the Tars beat Palm Beach Atlantic on the
road and then downed Puerto Rico Bayamon at home.
The Tars are beating opponents by an average of 23.3 points a
game and own a plus-13 rebounding advantage. Teams are shooing just
27 percent against Rollins' swarming defense, including only 16
percent from 3-point range.
Junior forward Sarah Blackburn leads the way for Rollins,
averaging 12 points and 7.5 rebounds an outing. She has been the
epitome of efficiency, shooting 57 percent from the field and 67
percent from beyond the arc. Ashley Jones adds nine points and 5.5
rebounds per game while Ashley Losch is netting 8.3 a game.
Glenn Wilkes Jr. (Stetson '81) is in his 27th season
leading the Tars, posting a career record of 585-189. Last season
he orchestrated the most successful season in school history,
winning the Sunshine State Conference regular season and tournament
titles. Rollins then took the South Region Championship for the
first time in school history and advanced to the final four of the
NCAA Division II Elite Eight.
The Tars are 1-0 all-time against both Tusculum and Missouri
S&T and have never faced Charleston.
TUSCULUM (1-1) AT A GLANCE: The Lady Pioneers
split their first two games of the season, falling to Division I
Furman 68-49 and beating Winston-Salem State 74-62.
Three Lady Pioneers are averaging in double figures, led by 12
points a game from both Breaira Barksdale and Alishia Mosley.
Kendal Baxter adds 11.5 points a night while Shynese Whitener leads
the way with seven points a game.
Last season, Tusculum was one of the top teams in the South
Atlantic Conference, finishing third in the league and earning a
bid to the NCAA Division II Southeast Region tournament, falling to
Clayton State in the first round.
Katrina Williams in in her first season as head coach of the
Lady Pioneers. She spent the last two seasons on staff at Radford
and previously served as head coach at Averett University.
MISSOURI S&T (1-1) AT A GLANCE: Formerly
the University of Missouri-Rolla, the Lady Miners traveled the
furthest distance of the three schools to be in the Sunshine State
for Thanksgiving. S&T defeated McKendree 68-64 to open the
season, but fell to St. Mary's 49-42 its last time out.
Hailee Parks leads the Miners with 12 points and six rebounds a
game. She also has four blocks on the year and is 14-of-17 from the
free throw line. Shooting guard Toni Knar nets 12 a game while
Kyesha Hall adds 8.5 a game. The Lady Miners have the advantage of
a deep bench with seven players averaging better than 20 minutes a
game.
MS&T went 18-9 last season, including a 12-6 mark in the
Great Lakes Valley Conference.
Alan Eads enters his 11st season leading the Lady Miners and
holds a program-best record of 145-134.
UNIVERSITY OF CHARLESTON (1-0) AT A GLANCE:
Charleston has played just one game this season due to Davis &
Elkins postponing a scheduled contest after a tragedy in its
athletic department.
The Golden Eagles were successful in their opener, beating
Slippery Rock 93-76 at home. LeAnne Ross paced UC with 20 points on
6-of-15 shooting, including four three-pointers. Nichole Perry
added 19 points while Jessi Cowden netted 15 and Kayla Dozier put
up 10. Tianni Kelly hauled in seven rebounds as the Golden Eagles
outrebounded The Rock 52-40.
Charleston led 35-33 at the half and exploded for 58 points in
the second to blow the game open.
Last season, UC posted a 13-15 overall record, including an
11-11 mark in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference.
Adam Collins enters his first season leading the Golden Eagles.
The Charleston Southern graduate was most recently head coach at
the University of Texas-Permian Basin the past four seasons.
