Women's Basketball Hosts Thanksgiving Classic

By Ethan Marsh, Reporter

Wilmington, NC - UNCW women’s basketball hosted their annual Hampton Inn Thanksgiving Classic Friday on November 27-28. The team welcomed Davidson, Bowling Green, and Jacksonville to Raiford G. Trask Coliseum for the tournament. Four total games were played, and each team competed in two of these games. Davidson won the tournament with a record of 2-0 following wins against UNCW 77-50 and Bowling Green 60-56. The UNCW Seahawks had a 1-1 record in the tournament with a win against Jacksonville 51-49 along with their loss versus Davidson. Bowling Green had a record of 1-1 in the tournament with a win against Jacksonville 72-69 in overtime. Jacksonville had a record of 0-2 with losses against UNCW and Bowling Green.

---

The UNCW Seahawks played in their first game Friday afternoon, November 27 as they played Jacksonville. This was the second time Jacksonville visited Trask Coliseum, and the first time since 2002. Head Coach, Adell Harris, was confident when she spoke of Shatia Cole being a captain of the team at the Basketball Luncheon October 12th. Cole lived up to the hype as she scored 9 of the first 11 points of the game and made the game-winner with 6.5 seconds left to play. Cole had thirteen points total. Jordan Henry and Amber Reeves helped out Cole as they scored thirteen and eight points, respectively. The matchup started off slow as the Seahawks had a deficit of 15-7 at the conclusion of the 1st quarter. The tides turned as UNCW outscored Jacksonville 15-7 in the 2nd quarter to equal the score at 22-22 at the half. It was a well-contested game down the stretch as it came down to the final seconds. The Seahawks came out with the victory.

The Seahawks played their second game in the classic Saturday afternoon, November 28. This game determined the winner of the tournament as both UNCW and their opponent, Davidson had won on Friday. This was the third time Davidson visited Trask Coliseum and the first time since the 2009-10 campaign. Davidson led the game the entire way and went on a 19-6 run before the conclusion of the half to make the score at halftime 45-25. UNCW could not come out of the deficit due to their offensive struggles. It also included Davidson running an effective defensive strategy. The Seahawks had a poor and inefficient defensive strategy that allowed Davidson to pull out to their large lead. Shatia Cole had seven points and Jordan Henry added sixteen points in the matchup. The Seahawks simply did not come together as a team in this game as they did against Jacksonville.

These two games, which resulted in a 1-1 record as a part of the tournament, kept the Seahawks at a .500 record at 2-2 on the season. The UNCW women’s basketball team will next play at VCU in Richmond, Virginia Wednesday, December 2nd. The team’s next home game will be Tuesday, December 15th at 11:30 am versus Stetson.