CROOKSTON, Minn. - The University of Minnesota Crookston women's basketball team is set to compete in the Malika Sport Tours Oahu Thanksgiving Classic November 24 and 25 in Honolulu, Hawai'i.
The Golden Eagles will take on Chaminade University and No. 1/10 Lubbock Christian University at The Shark Tank. The Golden Eagles have competed in the tournament three times. UMN Crookston is 2-2 all-time in games in Honolulu. The Golden Eagles have wins over Chaminade and University of Hawai'i-Hilo. They have been defeated twice by Hawai'i Pacific University.
RANKED OPPONENTS
Lubbock Christian will mark the third ranked opponent the Golden Eagles have played this season as both Michigan Tech University and University of Nebraska-Kearney were ranked. UMN Crookston is coming close, as they came within eight points of Michigan Tech, leading the game 54-53 with six minutes remaining. The Golden Eagles will face a daunting task Thursday as they face the defending National Champion, but they are up for the challenge!
BOXED OUT BY FOX
• Bren Fox returns for her fourth year in the Golden Eagle uniform. She is a redshirt junior this year and the 6-3 native of Norwood Young America, Minn., has been strong overall this season. Fox comes into Hawai'i averaging 8.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. She is shooting 88.9 percent from the charity stripe this season. Her best game came with 14 points against Northwest Missouri State University.
ALL ABOUT ABI
•
Abi Fraaza has made an instant impact as a freshman for the Golden Eagles. Fraaza is averaging 7.0 points and 5.3 rebounds per game for UMN Crookston. Her best game came with nine points versus Northwest Missouri State. She had 11 rebounds last weekend against Northern Michigan. We will continue to be a key factor for the Golden Eagles.
IMPACT TRANSFER
•
Abigail Leach has been an impact transfer for the Golden Eagles, since coming in from NIACC. Leach is shooting 42.9 percent (3-of-7) from beyond the arc. She comes into the week notching 7.5 points per game. Leach had nine points off the bench against Northern Michigan.
FACILITATOR
•
Emma Carpenter is leading the way for the Golden Eagles with nine assists this season. Carpenter has yet to get going from the field as she comes in notching 4.0 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. She is shooting 30.0 percent from beyond the arc entering the week. Carpenter's best game came with 10 points against Nebraska-Kearney.
NEWCOMERS
• UMN Crookston has four newcomers on the 2021-22 roster. The Golden Eagles will look forward to seeing what
Abigail Leach,
Abi Fraaza,
Alex Page, and
Lily Orazem add to the squad this season. All four will look to make impacts this season.
ON THE ROAD
• The Golden Eagles have spent a lot of time on the road in pre-season, playing exhibitions against Division I foes Minnesota and North Dakota, heading to Missouri to face Nebraska-Kearney and Northwest Missouri State, off to the U.P. to take on Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech, and now their season opening journey ends in Hawai'i. The Golden Eagles will finally play a home game Thursday, December 2 against St. Cloud State University.
CHAMINADE
SILVERSWORDS
• Chaminade University enters the week with a 1-0 mark on the season after defeating Multomah University 66-59 November 17. The Silverswords went 0-12 last season. The last time they played UMN Crookston, the Golden Eagles picked up a 68-65 win November 16, 2019.
MAGNIFICENT MARTINEZ
• Dallas Martinez leads the Silverswords on the season. She is averaging 14.0 points per game. Martinez shot 50.0 percent from the field in the season-opening win over Multomah. The 5-8 sophomore from Kaneohe, Hawai'i is in her first season with the Silverswords after transferring from Whittier College.
ZADER IN THE ZONE
• Jordyn Zader comes into the week notching 13.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Zader is a 5-7 junior from Mukwonago, Wis. She started all 12 games for Chaminade last season.
LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN
DEFENDING NATIONAL CHAMPS
• Lubbock Christian is coming off an unblemished 23-0 mark in order to win the National Championship during the 2020-21 season. The Chaps have already lost once this season, as they were defeated by Colorado State-Pueblo 64-56. They responded by defeating No. 1 Lander University and No. 20 Daemen College last week.
LEADING THE WAY
• Returning starter Ashton Duncan is back from the National Championship squad and she is leading the way with 13.0 points per game for the Chaps. Duncan is shooting 37.3 percent from beyond the arc, hitting 19 treys so far this season.
SCHULTE'S SHOT
• Allie Schulte comes into the week notching 12.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game for Lubbock Christian. She is shooting 46.2 percent from the clip this season. Schulte led the team last season with 15.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.
