Looking back at the action-packed 2018 South Point Thanksgiving Shootout
DAY 1
Box scores
Southern Illinois 72, Hartford 50Â
Southern Illinois (3-2) started the tournament with a wire-to-wire 72-50 victory over the Hartford Hawks (2-4).
SIU junior forward Nicole Martin got things started, making a layup that gave her team an early lead. Hartford senior guard Lindsey Abed retaliated quickly but the Salukis subsequently went on a run to give them an 11-6 advantage with sophomore forward Abby Brockmeyer leading the way.
In the last 1:20 of the period, the Salukis amassed a double-digit cushion and went into the second period leading 24-11. Brockmayer had 11 points in the first ten minutes.
The Salukis outscored the Hawks 14-8 in the second period to maintain their lead. Going to the break, SIU led 38-19.
The third period was an evenly matched affair as both teams scored 13 points each. However, since the Hawks went into the break with a 19-point deficit, trading baskets at that point did nothing to give them any traction in coming from behind.
The fourth period was much of the same with the teams trading baskets, However, SIU was a little more prolific, outscoring the Hawks 20-18.
Martin finished with 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting along with five rebounds. Brockmeyer earned her fourth double-double of the season with 17 points, 10 rebounds plus a career-high five assists. Sophomore guaard Makenzie Silvey added 11 points and career-best seven rebounds. Payton McCallister earned 11 points and five assists.
Lindsey Abed paced Hartford with 22 points while freshman guard Jordan McLemore added 10.
Southern Illinois plays Arizona State on Saturday. Hartford will face Louisville.
Louisville 58, Arizona State 56
The second game of the day was an exciting and intense matchup that saw two ranked teams battle until the very last second. While Louisville (4-0) triumphed 58-56 over Arizona State (2-2), the win was decided in the last three seconds when the Sun Devils seemed poised to tie the game.
Initially, both teams had trouble on the offensive end. Louisville senior guard Asia Durr was the first to score. She drained a three-pointer and Arizona State freshman guard Taya Hanson returned the favor with a trey of her own. Neither team could get an offensive advantage as the quarter ended with a tie game at 14 points each.
The second quarter was much of the same as neither team could gain enough momentum to lead by more than a few points. Louisville went into the break with a slight lead of 29-27.
Arizona State managed to outscore Louisville in the third period, 14-8. This gave the Sun Devils a 41-37 lead heading into the last ten minutes.
In the mad scramble to the finish, both teams had opportunities to possibly go on runs but the play of the defensive-minded squads quashed any attempts to get ahead by a significant margin.
For Louisville, senior forward Sam Fuehring was crucial on both ends of the floor in the end. After She made a layup with just three seconds left, Arizona State turned the ball over and squandered its chance of getting off a three-pointer.
Fuehring led Louisville with 18 points plus nine rebounds. Durr added 14 points and Evans contributed 11 points.
Senior forward Sophia Elenga was the only Arizona State in double figures. She scored 13 points and pulled down eight rebounds.
Louisville plays Hartford tomorrow while Arizona State faces Southern Illinois.
Buffalo 73, Georgetown 64
Buffalo led wire to wire in its 73-64 victory over Georgetown. The Hoyas were no match for the Bulls with especially with the outstanding play of Buffalo senior Cierra Dillard who scored a season-high 33 points, pulled down six rebounds, dished out eight assists and amassed five steals.
Buffalo’s three treys early in the game put them ahead for good as they outscored Georgetown 19-11 in the first quarter.
In the second period, Buffalo led by as much as 11 points. Georgetown tried to make inroads to reduce their deficit, but a jump shot from senior forward Courtney Wilkins in the last three seconds of the half put the Bulls up 38-28 heading into the break.
Buffalo continued to dominate in the third quarter and entered the last period with a 57-46 advantage. While the Hoyas outscored the Bulls 18-16 in the last ten minutes, it was a moot effort.
In addition to Dillard, Wilkins and junior guard Theresa Onwuka were also in double figures with 11 points and six rebounds each.
Junior forward Anita Kelava led Georgetown with 15 points plus eight rebounds. Graduate student guard Mikayla Venson socred 12 points and senior guard Dionna White had a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Buffalo plays South Dakota State on Saturday while Georgetown will face Baylor.
Baylor 72, South Dakota State 66
In the last game of the day, unranked South Dakota State (3-2) put No. 5 Baylor (5-0) to the ultimate test. The Jackrabbits and the Bears were neck and neck for the majority of the game with the unranked mid-major looking as if they were poised to upset the Big 12 power.
At the outset, the teams traded baskets and the lead with the Jackrabbits lighting up the scoreboard with a flurry of three-point shots. After being tied at 12 all midway through the first period, Baylor went on an 11-0 run finishing the quarter with a 21-12 lead.
However, that advantage was not intimidating to the Jackrabbits as they hopped right back into the fray with a run of their own in the second quarter. With only four minutes left before the break, it was a four-point game with Baylor leading 27-23.
South Dakota State had the lead briefly before Baylor made some quick shots to end the half with a 37-34 lead. Lauren Cox had 17 points for Baylor at the break while Madison Guebert led the Jackrabbits with 11.
Guebert hit the first shot out of the third quarter, a trey that tied the game. South Dakota State took the lead at 7:33 in the third quarter after a pair of free throws from sophomore guard/forward Myah Selland. It was back and forth contest for the majority of the third quarter.
Three-pointers from junior guard Juicy Landrom and Cox in the last two minutes of the third period helped put Baylor back in the lead 47-43 to end the quarter.
The last period was another flurry of excitement as the teams went back and forth again. The Jackrabbits overcame a double-digit deficit in the last two minutes and seemed ready to pull off a major upset but in the end, the Bears outscored their feisty opponent 25-23 to take the game.
Cox had a season-high 28 points plus 10 rebounds, while senior center Kalani Brown added 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Guebert gave the Jackrabbits 22 points. Senior guard Macy Miller scored 14 points and dished out six assists. Selland contributed 12 points, six rebounds and seven assists.
DAY 2
Box scores
Louisville 86, Hartford 69
Undefeated Louisville (5-0) capped a successful run in the South Point Thanksgiving Shooting with an 86-69 win over Hartford (2-5) Saturday afternoon.
Hartford began the game looking like a well-rested squad ready to take down Goliath as they raced out to a 10-5 lead with graduate student forward Ella Awobajo leading the way. Louisville junior forward Kylee Shook was the catalyst for Louisville to ramp up their offense in the closing moments of the period. Hartford went into the second period with an 18-16 lead.
Louisville’s offensive production exploded in the second quarter. Senior guard Asia Durr led the way scoring 12 points in the quarter. Louisville had a 53-36 lead at halftime.
The game slowed down in the third period with both teams only scoring 15 points each. It was another even offensive output in the last ten minutes as both teams scored 18 points apiece. Louisville’s 17-point advantage after the second quarter held them over for the win.
The Cardinals shot 54 percent for the field compared to 46.3 percent for Hartford. Louisville also made 77.4 percent of their free throws (23-of-31) while Hartford made 65.2 percent of theirs (15-of-23)
and made 57.1 percent of their three-pointers (8-of-14).
Durr led Louisville with 20 points and senior forward Sam Fuehring added 19 plus five rebounds. Sophomore guard Dana Evans contributed 10 points plus six assists while junior forward Kylee Shook finished with 10 points plus six rebounds.
Junior guard Sierra DaCosta paced Hartford with 21 points. Awobajo had 12 points, and sophomore guard Jade Young scored 11 for the Hawks. Senior Lindsey Abed scored her 1,000th career point in the game.
Louisville returns home to play Miami (Ohio) on Monday. Hartford heads home to host William & Mary Friday night.
Arizona State 82, Southern Illinois 38
Arizona State (3-2) bounced back from a Friday afternoon loss to Louisville with an 82-38 win over Southern Illinois (3-3) Saturday. The game had a fun, family component as it was the first time that sisters, freshman Jayde VanHyfte of Arizona State and redshirt senior senior Celina VanHyfte, had the opportunity to play against each other on the college level. With a group of family members cheering them on, the Van Hyfte sisters guarded each other when they were on the court at the same time.
While Southern Illinois made a good effort to hang tight with Arizona State early in the game, by the second quarter, it was apparent that the Sun Devils were not going to let another game get away from them at the tournament. Arizona State led 16-12 after the first quarter before outscoring their opponent 25-13 in the second period. The Sun Devils scorched the Salukis in the third period with a 24 to 7 offensive onslaught.
With 15 seconds left in the game, Arizona State’s lead had swelled to 44. Twelve players scored for the Sun Devils with four in double figures.
Senior forward Kianna Ibis, junior guard Robbi Ryan and freshman guard/forward Iris Mbulito all scored 10 points each. Junior guard Reili Richardson led all scorers with 11 points.
There were no SIU players in double figures. Sophomore forward Abby Brockmeyer led the Salukis with nine points plus three rebounds.
Arizona State heads home to host Louisiana Tech on Saturday. Southern Illinois goes on the road to face Saint Louis on Thursday.
Buffalo 61, South Dakota State 55
The third game of the day was a defensive battle between two well-respected mid-major teams. Buffalo won (4-1) the hard-fought back-and-forth battle 61-55 against South Dakota State (3-3) to claim a second victory in the tournament.
The Bulls struck early with a fast start to gain an early advantage over the Jackrabbits. Going into the second quarter, Buffalo had a 20-13 lead from a balanced scoring effort as six players made shots in the first 10 minutes led by senior guard Cierra Dillard.
South Dakota State performed better on the offensive end in the second quarter, outscoring Buffalo 16-12, but it was not enough production to overcome the Bulls heading into halftime. At the break, Buffalo led 32-29.
The Jackrabbits put the game in a near dead heat in the third quarter. Their scoring efforts, led by redshirt senior guard Macy Miller and senior guard Madison Guebert, put them just one point behind Buffalo going into the last period. In the end, the Bulls held off the threat outscoring their opponents 15-10 in the final quarter.
Dillard led all scorers with 20 points plus nine rebounds and six steals. Her teammate, junior guard Theresa Onwuke added 13 points and seven rebounds. Senior forward Brittany Morrison added 10 points and four rebounds.
Miller and sophomore guard/forward Myah Selland had 14 points each for South Dakota State. Miller pulled down seven rebounds and dished out four assists. Selland grabbed six rebounds.
Buffalo travels to Central Connecticut State Saturday Dec. 1. The Jackrabbits return home to host Green Bay on Thursday, November 29.
Baylor 67, Georgetown 46
Baylor (6-0) had no trouble putting away Georgetown 67-46 in the last game of the tournament. Unlike the previous day when the Bears got off to a slow start against South Dakota State, they raced out to a 22-11 lead in the first ten minutes of Saturday’s contest.
Georgetown (4-3) had no answers for Baylor’s offense and faltered under the defensive pressure of the Bears. After outscoring the Hoyas 25-12 in the second period, the Bears went into halftime with a 47-23 lead.
Both teams had a slow third quarter as the Bears only scored 11 compared to 7 by Georgetown. As Baylor began substituting more and letting reserves play in the second half, the offensive production slowed but not enough to let Georgetown gain any traction.
Led by junior guard Juicy Landrum and freshman forward NaLyssa Smith who scored 14 points each, ten Baylor players scored in the game. Landrum also pulled down nine rebounds while Smith grabbed five.
Junior forward Anita Kelava, who had 10 points, was the only Georgetown player in double figures. Senior guard Dionna White earned 10 rebounds to go along with five points.
Baylor travels to South Carolina for a Sunday matchup.
