The Seattle University women's basketball team jumped out to a 23-4 lead eight minutes into the game and never looked back, defeating San Francisco, 74-56, Friday night on the first day of the Seattle U Thanksgiving Tournament at the Connolly Center.
Elle Kerfoot (Surrey, B.C.) led the Redhawks with 19 points, hitting 4-of-5 shots from behind the three-point line and 5-of-6 free throw attempts. Ashley Ward (Irvine, Calif.) was successful on all three of her attempts from behind the three-point line on her way to collecting 14 points, and Kacie Sowell (Ventura, Calif.) notched a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
"We played harder as a team, mostly on the defensive side, and that led to our offense being able to get in transition. We shared the ball and played together," Kerfoot said. "It felt great to get the early advantage, especially because we got off to some slow starts recently, so it was good to jump on top to gain some confidence that we built on later in the game."
Kerfoot hit three three-pointers in the first six minutes of the game, and Maggie McCarthy (Burlingame, Calif.) contributed a layup and a three-pointer of her own to give Seattle U the 23-4 lead. Down 35-19 with just over four minutes left in the first half, San Francisco put together a 9-2 run, with Rheina Ale and Taj Winston scoring all of the Dons' points in the final four minutes to bring the Redhawks' lead down to nine at 37-28 at halftime.
San Francisco (1-5) stayed within 10 points early in the second half before Seattle U went on a 16-2 scoring run over a seven-and-a-half minute span to extend its advantage to 24 points at 60-36 midway through the second half. With another game looming the next day, head coach Joan Bonvicini was able to use her bench to finish out the game, with the highlight being the first career block for freshman Jessi Williamson (Tacoma, Wash.).
McCarthy contributed eight points, five rebounds, and three assists in 26 minutes of action, while Brenda Adhiambo (Mombasa, Kenya) also scored eight points in the contest. Talisa Rhea (Juneau, Alaska) only took four shots, but still finished with six points, four rebounds, six assists, two steals, and a blocked shot. For the game, the Redhawks shot 48.0 percent from the field, including 9-of-17 from behind the three-point line.
"We tried to focus on many things over the past week, including defense and rebounding, which we still need to be better at. We also focused on getting the ball out, running, executing our transition, and moving into our offense. Today we did a good job on their three-point shooters, and it was a good game for us to build on," said Bonvicini.
Winston led the Dons with 18 points, plus she pulled down seven rebounds and blocked two shots. Ale and Aundrea Gordon each scored 12 points, and Alica Scafidi led San Francisco with eight rebounds. The visitors committed 21 turnovers, which nullified a 43-38 rebounding edge in the game.
In the first game of the Seattle U Thanksgiving Tournament, Akron (2-3) came back from a 12-point first half deficit, using a 20-7 scoring run in the final five minutes to defeat Loyola Chicago (3-2), 97-86. Taylor Ruper led the Zips with 20 points, while Rachel Tecca notched a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Patrice King scored 24 points for the Ramblers, while Lisa Samplawski hit five three-pointers as part of a 19-point performance.
Seattle University (2-3) will face Akron in the championship game of the Seattle U Thanksgiving Tournament Saturday, Nov. 26, at approximately 8 p.m. That will be preceded by the third place game between Loyola Chicago and San Francisco at 6 p.m. Live stats and live video streaming for both games will be available on GoSeattleU.com.