Women's Basketball dropped by Cal Poly 72-68 in Turkey Classic

(boxscore/ LIU- Cal Poly)

11/26/05 -- Three Blackbirds scored in double figures but could not hold off Cal Poly in the consolation game of the annual Long Island University Turkey Classic, falling 72-68 Saturday afternoon in the Schwartz Center.

Senior guard Amber Wirth (Hastings, Minn.) paced LIU (1-3) with 18 points. Megan Harrison netted 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lift the Mustangs (3-1) to the victory.

The first half produced five ties and three lead changes. Wirth hit a three-pointer at the 15:45 mark to tie the game at 7-7. Sophomore Mikaelar Whippy (Suva, Fiji) gave the Blackbirds their second lead with a 10-foot jumper, however Harrison would tie the game at 11-11 after hitting two free throws with 12:30 showing. The contest see-sawed back-and-forth as the teams traded baskets for the opening 10 minutes of the half.

The Mustangs went on a 10-4 run to push to a nine point advantage with just over four minutes remaining. Harrison drilled a three-pointer to extend the Mustangs lead to seven (33-26) with less than a minute on the clock.
Cal began the second half with a 9-0 run, to lead 42-26. Senior Polona Oberc (Ljubljana, Solvenia) ended LIU’s drought with a layup with 17:34 remaining. The Blackbirds staged a comeback with a layup from Whippy and a three-pointer by Masa Susic (Zenica, Bosnia & Herzegovina) to cut Cal Poly’s lead to seven with 5:51 showing. LIU whittled the Mustangs advantage down to three behind two free-throws from sophomore Joella Pounds (Clifton, N.J.), but Harrison bumped Cal Poly to a 67-59 gain with a jumper with 2:34 showing.
LIU battled back to within two with seven seconds left on the clock but could get no closer, falling 72-68.

James Madison University defeated Lafayette in the LIU Turkey Classic Championship game. The Dukes (3-1) were led by sophomore Tamera Young with 23 points and eight rebounds. Tournament MVP Meredith Alexis notched a double-double with 19 points and 18 boards. Shirley McCall poured in 13 points.

Sophomore Vanessa Van De Venter registered 13 points and five rebounds, followed by Kara Stetler with 11 points for the Leopards (3-1).

The Dukes led 28-26 at intermission despite shooting 0-of-7 from three-point range. Lafayette out-shot JMU 41.4 percent to 27.8 percent in the first half.

A Young three-pointer pushed the Dukes to a 10-point advantage (41-31) five minutes into the second stanza. JMU extended its lead to 20, going on a 10-0 run capped off by a jumper from Queens, N.Y. native Lesley Dickinson at with 11:18 on the clock.
Two free-throws from Andrea Benvenuto gave the Dukes their largest lead of the contest (64-42) with 4:32 remaining. James Madison took the game and tournament title, downing Lafayette, 70-50.

The Blackbirds host Loyola (Md.) on Tuesday, November 29 at 7:00 pm.