Women’s Basketball to Host Annual Thanksgiving Tournament

Friday, November 29

Boca Raton, FLA.

2 PM

Florida Atlantic

Loyola Maryland

Buy Tickets

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

11/27/2019 12:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

FAU Thanksgiving Tournament
Tournament Details	Friday, Nov. 29-Saturday, Nov. 30 \| Boca Raton, Fla. \| Abessinio Court at FAU Arena
Game Coverage	CUSA.TV: Game 1 \| Game 2 \| Game 3 \| Game 4 Live Stats Tournament Central Tickets: Day 1 \| Day 2 Twitter: @FAU_WBB Instagram: @FAU_WBB
Florida Atlantic Links	Notes \| News \| Roster \| Schedule
Kansas Links	Notes \| News \| Roster \| Schedule
Loyola Maryland Links	Notes \| News \| Roster \| Schedule
Wright State Links	Notes \| News \| Roster \| Schedule

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University women's basketball team (4-2) will host the annual FAU Thanksgiving Tournament this Friday and Saturday. Kansas (5-0), Loyola Maryland (1-4) and Wright State (2-1) will make their way down to South Florida to take part in a basketball-filled weekend.

FAU Thanksgiving Tournament Format

Game 1 (Friday, Nov. 29) – noon
- Kansas (away) vs. Wright State (home)
Game 2 (Friday, Nov. 29) – 2 p.m.
- Loyola Maryland (away) vs. FAU (home)
Game 3 - Consolation (Saturday, Nov. 30) – 11 a.m.
- Loyola Maryland (away) vs. Wright State (home)
Game 4 - Championship (Saturday, Nov. 30) – 1 p.m.
- Kansas (away) vs. FAU (home)

About the Owls

The Owls are rolling on a three-game winning streak after coming out victorious in each of its last three games. Last week started with an 83-39 win over Siena to mark their largest margin of victory in the Jim Jabir era and since 2013. On Thursday, the Owls took down Little Rock for the first time in school history, 79-72. On Sunday, the Owls wrapped up the weekend on the right foot with an 80-79 comeback victory at Western Michigan.

Now, the Owls are searching for its fourth consecutive win and second FAU Thanksgiving Tournament title. Crystal Primm is coming off the week having been honored as the Conference USA Player of the Week and continues to lead the way after five games, averaging 16.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Lotta Vehka-Aho and Juliette Gauthier follow, averaging 10.5 points, apiece. Vehka-Aho has a team's best 23 assists and 13 steals, while Gauthier is second in rebounds with 7.0 per game.

Last Time Out

FAU won another thriller Sunday afternoon, knocking off Western Michigan in Kalamazoo, 80-79. The Owls trailed by one point with 23 seconds left in the game, but Crystal Primm came up with a late game steal and knocked down two go-ahead free throws to elevate FAU to their third straight victory. Amber Gaston had her breakout game of the season, leading the Owls with a season-high 19 points and six critical rebounds. She also shot 80 percent from the field with a career-high eight field goals and her 54.5 percent field-goal percentage is now the seventh best in the conference. Crystal Primm followed with 13 points and 10 boards to capture her third double-double in six games. Astou Gaye was the third Owl in double digits, tallying 12 points in 14 minutes. Alexa Zaph put in eight points along with four rebounds and assists, while Nikola Ozola had her breakout game with a career-high seven points and seven assists

Scouting the Tournament Field

Loyola Maryland
The Greyhounds were picked to finish seventh in the Patriot League preseason poll after finishing 7-24 (5-13) in 2018-19. Loyola has endured a tough schedule, opening up at No. 16 Notre Dame (L, 84-60) and Northwestern (L, 67-46). The team is coming off an 89-78 loss at St. Francis Brooklyn, but Stephanie Karcz led the Greyhounds with a double-double (24 points, 11 rebounds and six steals). Karcz leads the team, averaging a near double-double with 12.0 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. Delaney Connolly and Ashley Hunter follow, averaging 10.6 and 10.0 points per game, respectively.
Kansas
The Jayhawks are undefeated at 5-0. Mariane De Carvalho leads the team with 14.2 points per game, while adding 6.2 boards per game. Tina Stephens is the team's leader in rebounds, averaging 7.8 per game. Freshman Holly Kersgieter kicked off her collegiate career on the right foot as Big 12 Player of the Week after averaging 16.0 points, 8.6 boards and shooting 55 percent from the field in KU's wins over Indiana State and Illinois-Chicago. The Jayhawks are picked to finish 10th in the preseason Big 12 poll.
Wright State
The Raiders are 2-1 with their lone loss coming in their opener against Abilene Christian, 83-64. The team is led by Michal Miller, who is averaging 15.3 points per game. Angel Baker follows with 11.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. Shamarre Hale has pulled down a team-leading 9.3 boards per game. After winning its first outright regular season title in program history and taking the Horizon League Championship last season, it is not question to Raiders were picked to finish first in the preseason poll. Miller was named to the preseason First Team All-Horizon, while Baker was chosen to the Second Team.

Series History

Friday's matchup will be FAU's first meeting against Loyola Maryland. FAU has faced Kansas twice and are 0-2 against the Jayhawks. Kansas won the first meeting in 1992 at the Kansas Classic, 99-53. The last time these two teams met was in 2011 at the BTI Kansas Invitational with KU taking the win, 82-63. The Owls have never played Wright State.

History of FAU Thanksgiving Tournament

The tournament is back for its seventh consecutive year, 12th overall. In 2003, the tournament commence and continued until 2005 before taking a break in 2006 and resuming in 2007-08 before stopping again. In 2013, the Owls started the tournament back up again and it has occurred yearly ever since.
Past Champions

2018: Bradley
2017: Bowling Green
2016: Richmond
2015: South Dakota
2014: North Dakota State
2013: FAU
2008: Texas
2007: Missouri
2005: Samford
2004: James Madison
2003: Manhattan

Game Notes

FAU Thanksgiving Tournament

Upcoming

The Owls will receive a visit from Central Connecticut State on Sunday, Dec. 15 at 2 p.m. For tickets, call 1-800-FAU-OWLS or visit FAUSports.com.

Owls on Social Media

For complete coverage of FAU women's basketball, follow us on Twitter (@FAU_WBB), Instagram (@FAU_WBB) and Facebook (Florida Atlantic Women's Basketball).