Bahamas Sunshine Shootout

UC Women's Basketball Team Grabs Bahamas Sunshine Shootout Championship
January 3, 2005

After traveling to Nassau, Bahamas over Christmas Break, the UC women's basketball team returned with much more than an expected tan.  The excursion was a far cry from a vacation.  It was a business trip that went extremely well, as UC dominated both contests in the Sunshine Shootout to capture the tournament championship.

On December 20, UC began its road to the championship as they defeated the University of North Florida (UNF), 69-39, in the opening round of the Bahamas Sunshine Shootout.  Charleston (8-2) shot 46 percent from the floor and got strong offensive performances from Courtney Thomas and Lisa Lee, who scored 16 points each to lead all scorers.  Laura Kinsler also broke into double figures for UC contributing 11 points.

UNF (5-3) committed 30 turnovers, 20 of which occurred in the first half.  UNF shot only 29 percent from the floor as they dropped their third straight game.  UC led 36-17 at halftime, with 25 of of their points coming from UNF turnovers.  In the second half, UC continued to play tough defense inside and UNF was unable to respond from the perimeter as they shot only 4-of-19 from three-point range.  UC was able to stretch its lead to as many as 32 during the waning minutes of the game on their path to clenching a place in the finals.

UC did not have a great deal of time to prepare for the finals scheduled on December 21.  With less than 24 hours of rest, UC was relentless in their pursuit of the tournament championship as they downed Concordia (TX) 68-50.  Lee scored 25 and Thomas added 14 as UC improved to 9-2 on the season.  With the loss Concordia (TX) fell to 6-2.

Once again the Eagles were in full control of their opponent as they dominated the boards 53-38, and tightened up their defense.  Lisa Lee snared a team-high 10 rebounds.  UC's strong defense allowed only one Tornado to score in double figures with 10.  Concordia (TX) committed 27 turnovers, while UC notched 13 steals.  Thomas grabbed a team-high four steals to lead the defense.