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BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The Blackbirds host their final games in the 2013 calendar year this weekend, as LIU women's basketball will host its annual Turkey Classic Tournament in the Steinberg Wellness Center. LIU will welcome teams from McNeese State, Georgia Tech and Southern Utah, in four games played in a tournament format.
Friday, November 29 at 2 p.m., LIU will take on McNeese State in the first game of the weekend. Following that, at 4:30 p.m., Georgia Tech and Southern Utah will play each other. Saturday's games are determined by the results from Friday. At 2 p.m. on Saturday, the team that lost game #1 will face off against the team that lost game #2. And at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, the two winning teams from Friday will face off in the championship game, to see who will take home the Turkey Classic title.
These games at home will be the last for LIU until 2014. After the championship game of the Turkey Classic, LIU will go on a month-long road swing, which includes games in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and Arizona. In January, LIU will play road games at Wagner and Mount St. Mary's, before taking on St. Francis Brooklyn at the Barclays Center, January 11. The next time LIU plays in the Steinberg Center will be January 13, 2014, against Central Connecticut State.
LIU is looking to bounce back from two home losses to NJIT and Maine. The Blackbirds lost to the Highlanders on a last-second buzzer beater, 60-58, and fell to the Black Bears two days later, 66-50.
Senior Cleandra Roberts led LIU in both games. Against NJIT, she had her second double double of the season, with 20 points and 11 rebounds. And against Maine, she scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Freshman Mercedes Harris led LIU on the boards with 10 rebounds.
ALL-TIME SERIES
• The Blackbirds have a 1-0 all-time record against McNeese State. The two teams face off on November 26, 2010, in that year's Turkey Classic Tournament. LIU took that win, 71-56.
• Georgia Tech leads the all-time series with LIU, 3-0. The last time the two teams met was November 28, 2009, in that year's Turkey Classic. The Yellow Jackets won that matchup, 76-53. The first time the two teams met was November 18, 2001.
• LIU Brooklyn and Southern Utah would have their first meeting in program history.
SCOUTING MCNEESE STATE
• McNeese State comes to the Steinberg Wellness Center with a 2-2 record, having beat Wiley College (88-69) and Rice (65-54), and suffered losses to Tulane (74-49) and most recently, Texas Southern (71-55)
• The Cowgirls are led in scoring by sophomore guard Allison Baggett, who is averaging 20.5 ppg. Baggett is shooting 40.0 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from three-point range and 73.1 percent from the free throw line.
• Senior Cecilia Okoye leads the Cowgirls in rebounds with 6.8 per contest, while sophomore Jayln Johnson is dishing out 4.8 assists per game.
• Head Coach Brooks Donald-Williams holds a career record of 106-91 in six years with the Cowgirls and has led her team to NCAA Tournament appearances in 2011 and 2012.
SCOUTING GEORGIA TECH
• The Yellow Jackets come into the tournament with a 2-2 record, having suffered two straight losses to #4 Tennessee (87-76) and #23 Georgia (63-56). The Ramblin' Wreck has wins over Coppin State (79-57) and Western Carolina (87-47).
• Georgia Tech is led by two players who were recently named to the Naismith Preseason Watch List: freshman Kaela Davis and senior Tyaunna Marshall.
• Davis, just one of two freshmen listed on early season watch list, has had remarkable start to her career, averaging a team-high 20.3 points per game and leading the Yellow Jackets in rebounding with 8.0 rebounds per game. She has led the team in scoring in every game so far this season and scored a season-high 28 points at #4 Tennessee. Davis, the daughter of former NBA standout Antonio Davis, opened up the season with back-to-back double-doubles and was named the ACC Rookie of the Week for her efforts.
• Tyaunna Marshall has also been selected to the Wooden Award's preseason top 30 and the Wade Watch List's preseason top 25. Marshall also garnered preseason All-ACC honors for the second-straight year. Marshall currently has 1,548 points, putting her in eighth place on Georgia Tech's all-time scoring list and just 408 points shy of becoming the Yellow Jackets' all-time leading scorer. Marshall is averaging 9.3 points per game so far this season and grabbing an average of 5.7 rebounds per game.
• Head coach MaChelle Joseph is in her 11th season with the Yellow Jackets and holds a career record of 195-124.
SCOUTING SOUTHERN UTAH
• Southern Utah has won two-straight and is off to its best start on the year since the 2002-03 season. The Thunderbirds are 4-1 so far this season, with wins over Boise State (90-86), Texas A&M Corpus Christi (74-67), Utah Valley (74-63), and Westminster (68-65), and their lone loss coming to Houston Baptist.
• The Thunderbirds are the highest-powered offense coming into this weekend, at least on paper. Southern Utah is averaging 76.6 points per game, including shooting 74.8 percent from the free throw line.
• SUU sophomore Lori Parkinson has shot 58.7 percent from the floor through the first five games of the year, a mark that puts her in the top 41 players in the country. The Thunderbirds are shooting 45.1 percent as a team, which leads the Big Sky Conference while ranking 40th in the NCAA.
• Parkinson is averaging 14.2 points per game and 8.0 rebounds per game, but the T-Birds have four other players averaging 9.0 points per game or better.
CRAZY CAREER HIGHS VS. COLUMBIA
• Though the end result wasn't what the Blackbirds had hoped for, the season-opening loss to Columbia saw two upperclassmen notch impressive career highs.
• Senior Cleandra Roberts hit career highs in points (23), field goals made (10), field goals attempted (19), and three-pointers attempted (3).
• Junior Letava Whippy had only the second double-double of her career, as she scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. The guard had career highs in points (16), field goals made (6), and field goals attempted (10), while tying her career highs for free throws made (4) and free throws attempted (7).
BETTER ON THE BOARDS
• LIU has out-rebounded opponents in three out of four games so far this season. Against the Lions, LIU had 47 team rebounds, to Columbia's 32. And against the Broncs, LIU out-rebounded Rider, 40-37. NJIT gave up nearly twice as many rebounds, as the Blackbirds had 41 rebounds to their 24. Maine was the first team to beat the Blackbirds on the boards, 41-30.
• Senior Cleandra Roberts set another career high against the Broncs, this time in rebounds. She had 16 rebounds to match her 16 points, for LIU's second double double of the year so far.