BOCA RATON, FLA. - The LIU Brooklyn women's basketball team has migrated south after the holidays, to take part in the 2015 Florida Atlantic Holiday Tournament. The Blackbirds will open the tournament taking on Miami (Ohio), Tuesday, December 29 at 7:30 p.m. Host Florida Atlantic and Bethune-Cookman will face off Tuesday as well. Wednesday, the two losing teams will take part in the consolation game at 5 p.m., followed by the championship game between the two winning teams at 7:30 p.m. The tournament is the last tune-up for the Blackbirds before Northeast Conference play begins.
The tournament will be a battle of the birds, of sorts, as the Blackbirds will take on the Miami RedHawks, and potentially face off with the FAU Owls. The only non-bird team is Bethune-Cookman's Wildcats.
LAST TIME OUT• LIU is coming off of a pre-Christmas loss on the road against Stony Brook. The Blackbirds fell to the 2-7 on the season with the 71-54 defeat in Island FCU Arena. A low-scoring second quarter proved to be the difference in the game for LIU.
• Junior
Shanovia Dove led LIU in scoring with 21 points. Senior
Jolanna Ford had 13 points and six rebounds, while sophomore
Stylz Sanders had a career-high 10 points and six rebounds. Senior
Shanice Vaughan added six points and a team-high nine rebounds.
ALL-TIME SERIES• Two of the three teams in this week's tournament are first time opponents for the Blackbirds. LIU will have its first meeting with Miami (OH), and potentially with Bethune-Cookman.
• LIU and FAU have faced off once before, over a decade ago. In 2002, the Blackbirds played at Florida Atlantic on December 28, and fell to the Owls, 61-48.
SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS• Miami comes into the tournament with a 5-4 overall record. The RedHawks most recently lost on the road at Michigan, 97-55, December 19, and have had a break for the last ten days. The last Miami wins came at the start of December, when the RedHawks had back-to-back wins over Valparaiso (75-72) and Oakland (65-54).
• The RedHawks, who went 7-23 last season and 4-14 in conference play, are a young, guard-heavy squad, with 11 freshmen and sophomores, including all five of the team's regular starters.
• Sophomore guard Baleigh Reid leads the team averaging 17.2 points per game, along with 4.3 rebounds per game, while freshman guard Leah Pruvis leads the team in made threes, assists (21) and steals (12), adding 11.1 points per game.
• Other key players include sophomore guard Ana Richter, who puts up 10.7 points per game and leads the team with 5.8 rebounds per game, and with freshman forward Kristen Levering, who averages 5.8 rebounds per game and 6.4 points per game. Levering also leads the team with 12 blocks. And sophomore guard Molly McDonagh adds 6.0 points per game, and is second on the team in assists (18) and steals (10).
SCOUTING THE OWLS• Host Florida Atlantic holds the best record entering this week's tournament, as the Owls are 6-3 overall this season, including 4-1 at home. At last week's Lady Griz Classic, FAU split, losing to Montana, 83-69, before beating Tennessee State, 69-64.
• The Owls are led by redshirt senior guard Ali Gorrell, who puts up 14.1 points per game and grabs 6.3 rebounds per game. She also leads the team with 13 steals, and an average of 4.3 assists per game.
• Junior guard/forward Kat Wright adds 10.9 points per game, and leads the team in made threes (2.1 per game).Senior guard Morgan Robinson adds 9.9 points per game, while sophomore forward Melinda Myers leads the team with 7.0 rebounds per game.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS• Bethune-Cookman enters the tournament with a 6-6 record thus far, coming off a tournament last week, the 2015 Stetson Hatters Classic. There, the Wildcats split, falling to Georgia State, 68-61, before bouncing back with a 65-49 win over Georgia Southern.
• Junior guard Kendra Cooper leads the Wildcats with 16.9 points per game, and has 33 assists so far this season. But B-CU's main weapon comes in the paint, in the form of 6-4 redshirt junior center Kailyn Williams. Williams averages 10.5 points per game, and leads the team in steals (15) ,blocks (29) and rebounds per game (8.9). A two-time MEAC Defensive Player of the Week, she had a double-double against Warner, with 18 rebounds and 10 blocks. The junior averages 2.42 blocks per game, 30th in the nation.
• Another standout is redshirt senior guard Jasmine Knowles leads the team with 58 assists and 15 steals, while averaging 7.2 points per game.