Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Florida Memorial on November 4, 2025 at 7 p.m.
7 p.m.
Women's Basketball
vs. Florida Memorial
Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Friday, November 26
Boca Raton, Fla.
Noon
Florida Atlantic
vs
Tulsa
Women’s Basketball Hosts 13th FAU Thanksgiving Tournament
11/24/2021 9:50:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University Thanksgiving Tournament has returned after taking a one-year hiatus last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year's women's basketball tournament features Austin Peay (3-1), Davidson (3-2) and Tulsa (4-0) with games taking place on Friday and Saturday. FAU (2-2) is looking t stretch its home winning streak to potentially nine.
On hosting the FAU Thanksgiving Tournament:
"We are excited to be hosting our Thanksgiving Tournament this week. We have two good teams coming in with Tulsa and Davidson, so we are really excited to have this tournament going again," said head coach Jennifer Sullivan. "I think it's a great opportunity not only to get two quality home games, but also showcase our campus and university to teams around the country, so we are really excited about the challenge with this week."
Taking what they have learned from the last two games into the weekend:
"Traditionally [Tulsa and Davidson] are good programs, and they have a new coaching staff at Tulsa, so we have to learn more about what they do. I think the big thing for us will be taking the things we learned from the North Florida loss and carrying that into this game. Defensive execution especially late, taking care of the basketball… But we have great contributions in both of our last two games, which was encouraging to see what Amber [Gaston] was able to do against bigger bodied posts at North Florida, and same with Alexa [Zaph]. I thought she had a great game and did a better job taking care of the basketball, which is something we really want to focus on with her."
Tulsa
Tulsa
The Owls are set to play two straight road games next week starting with a Thursday night matchup at Kennesaw State. FAU will return home to face Florida Memorial on Tuesday, Dec. 7 at 6 p.m. Tickets for the game can be purchased hereor by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS.
For complete coverage of FAU women's basketball, follow us on Twitter (@FAUWBB), Instagram (@FAUWBB) and Facebook (FAU Women's Basketball).
FAU Thanksgiving Tournament Format
- Game 1 – Friday, Nov. 26 at noon: Tulsa (away) vs. FAU (home)
- Game 2 – Friday, Nov. 26 at 2:30 p.m.: Davidson (away) vs. Austin Peay (home)
- Game 3 – Saturday, Nov. 27 at noon: Tulsa (away) vs. Austin Peay (home)
- Game 4 – Saturday, Nov. 27 at 2:30 p.m.: Davidson (away) vs. FAU (home)
History of FAU Thanksgiving Tournament
- The FAU Thanksgiving Tournament is back after being shut down with a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 13th tournament of its kind features FAU, Austin Peay, Davidson and Tulsa
- The tournament commenced in 2003 and continued until 2005 before taking a break in 2006. It resumed in 2007 before stopping again. In 2013, the Owls started the tournament back up and besides 2020, the tournament has taken place ever since
Sully's Statements
On hosting the FAU Thanksgiving Tournament:
"We are excited to be hosting our Thanksgiving Tournament this week. We have two good teams coming in with Tulsa and Davidson, so we are really excited to have this tournament going again," said head coach Jennifer Sullivan. "I think it's a great opportunity not only to get two quality home games, but also showcase our campus and university to teams around the country, so we are really excited about the challenge with this week."
Taking what they have learned from the last two games into the weekend:
"Traditionally [Tulsa and Davidson] are good programs, and they have a new coaching staff at Tulsa, so we have to learn more about what they do. I think the big thing for us will be taking the things we learned from the North Florida loss and carrying that into this game. Defensive execution especially late, taking care of the basketball… But we have great contributions in both of our last two games, which was encouraging to see what Amber [Gaston] was able to do against bigger bodied posts at North Florida, and same with Alexa [Zaph]. I thought she had a great game and did a better job taking care of the basketball, which is something we really want to focus on with her."
About the Owls
- FAU women's basketball is under a new direction with first-year head coach Jennifer Sullivan, who has opened up her collegiate coaching career with a 2-2 record
- Sullivan is the sixth head coach in FAU women's basketball history
- The Owls are coming off two straight road losses with last Sunday's being a tough 85-79 overtime defeat at North Florida. Despite trailing most of the game, the Owls came back in the fourth quarter, but could not prevail in overtime
- The team brings back nine student-athletes from the 2020-21 squad, all of whom have seen time on a collegiate court
- Amber Gaston leads the Owls in scoring with 15.0 points per game. She also has a team-leading 8.5 rebounds per game
- Kynadi Kuykendoll has a team's most 2.8 assists per game, 11 total
- FAU has four Owls averaging double digits in scoring after four games (Gaston, Alexa Zaph, Rita Pleskevich and Janeta Rozentale)
- The Owls lead Conference USA in free throw attempts (105) and free throws made (76)
Last Time Out
- FAU was edged out by North Florida in overtime, 85-79 after a fourth quarter comeback
- Gaston (25 points and 12 rebounds) and Zaph (22 points) had career games, marking the first time since Feb. 2020 two players finished a game with 20+ points
- Pleskevich finished with another solid game with 14 points and three assists
- Kuykendoll logged six assists
- The Owls shot an impressive 85.7% from the charity stripe (18-for-21)
Scouting Tulsa and Davidson
Tulsa
- The Golden Hurricane have commenced the season 4-0 under first-year head coach Angie Nelp
- Tulsa was picked to finish ninth in the American Preseason Coaches' Poll
- Maya Mayberry was tabbed to the All-Conference Preseason Second Team. After four games, the senior leads the way with 15.8 points per game
- Temira Poindexter and Delanie Crawford share a team's most 5.0 rebounds per game
- Rebecca Lescay and Maddie Bittle log the most assists on the team (13)
- Davidson has won three straight to commence the season 3-2
- The Wildcats were projected to finish 11th in the Atlantic 10, as voted on by the league's head coaches
- Suzi-Rose Deegan was picked to the Preseason All-Conference Third Team. The junior is leading the Wildcats with 15.5 points per game
- Sarah Konstans has a team's most 6.2 rebounds per game
- Cassidy Gould leads the team with 26 assists
Series History
Tulsa
- The Owls and Hurricane have only played once when both teams were in C-USA
- FAU has the 1-0 edge in the series following a 91-86 win in Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Saturday marks the first time both teams will face each other
Upcoming
The Owls are set to play two straight road games next week starting with a Thursday night matchup at Kennesaw State. FAU will return home to face Florida Memorial on Tuesday, Dec. 7 at 6 p.m. Tickets for the game can be purchased hereor by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS.
Owls on Social Media
For complete coverage of FAU women's basketball, follow us on Twitter (@FAUWBB), Instagram (@FAUWBB) and Facebook (FAU Women's Basketball).
Players Mentioned
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