SAN DIEGO | The Alabama A&M women’s basketball concluded the San Diego Thanksgiving Classic after defeating the San Diego Toreros 78-67 on Saturday Afternoon. Four Bulldogs finished in double figures, paced by Kalia Walker’s season high 24 points.
Walker went 50 percent from behind the arc and went 12-of-14 from the line. Senior Lauryn Pendleton added 15 points in the contest and added a team high four assists and two steals. Kourtney Rittenberry led the Bulldogs defensively with eight rebounds in addition to her 13 points. Alisha Wilson followed with five boards and one block on top of her 11 points.
Kylie Horstmeyer paced the Toreros with 15 points and two blocks. Lauren McCall, Truitt Reilly, and Ava Ranson all scored 12 points. Reilly and Courtney Wristen both grabbed six boards and Ranson added a team high of five assists. USD was heavy in the paint, as they saw 34 of their 67 points from within. AAMU was the first Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) school that San Diego faced and now lead the series 1-0.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The host team was the first to get on the board and raced to a quick 13-6 lead to prompt a Bulldog stoppage with just over four minutes remaining in the opening frame
- A three-pointer from walker and a jumper from Pendleton cut the Torero lead to two
- San Diego managed to pull away six points, but the Bulldogs scored six of the next eight points to get within a pair of USD at the end of the first frame
- Another shot from behind the arc from Walker, followed by a layup from Wilson, evened the contest at 21 all and forced the Toreros to request a timeout
- USD went ahead four, but a pair of AAMU layups leveled the game once again (25-25)
- Wilson sunk a contested layup and Sanders took a shot from the outside the arc to put the Bulldogs ahead at 30-26
- A buzzer beater from Pendleton sent the teams into the break with the score tied at 32-32
- A pair of three pointers and a layup from Rittenberry put the Bulldogs ahead five to open the second half and cause a Torero stoppage with six and a half minutes remaining
- AAMU went on a 5-2 run to earn their largest lead of the game up to that point at 47-39
- A three-point play from Wilson ballooned the Bulldog margin and a three-point shot from Walker gave AAMU a comfortable lead at 57-43 to end the quarter
- The Toreros were first to score in the final frame, but Pendleton added a lay-up and drew a foul on the way down to further control the contest, 60-45
- San Diego cut the game to eight points at 63-55, but a mid-range from Rittenberry regained the double-figure lead with four minutes left in regulation
- USD went on a 7-2 run to reduce the Bulldog margin to six, but a pair of free throws from Walker and open jumper from Rittenberry put Alabama A&M up 10 and prompted a Torero timeout with less than a minute of play remaining (76-66)
- San Diego scored just one more point but would not be enought, as Alabama A&M claimed the victory, 78-67.
GAME NOTES
- Alabama A&M shot 45.5 percent (25-of-55) from the field and 84.6 percent (22-of-26) from the free-throw line
- AAMU went 6-16 (37.5 percent) from behind the arc
- The Bulldogs grabbed 27 total rebounds, 16 of them defensively
- Kalia Walker scored a season high 24 points
- Lauryn Pendleton added 15 points and a team-high four assists
- Kourtney Rittenberry tallied 13 points and grabbed a team high eight boards
- Alisha Wilson totaled 11 points, five rebounds, 2 steals and a block in Saturday afternoon’s victory
- The Bulldogs finished with 30 points in the paint, 31 points from 19 Torero turnovers, and 19 bench points
- AAMU picked up 12 steals compared to USD’s six, and led by as many as 15 points
- The Toreros shot 49 percent (24-of-49) from the field, 83.3 percent from the line (15-of-18) and 36.4 percent (4-of-11) from behind the arc
- San Diego grabbed 29 rebounds
- Kylie Horstmeyer paced the Toreros with 15 points
- Lauren McCall, Truitt Reilly, and Ava Ranson all scored 12 points
- Reilly and Courtney Wristen both grabbed six boards and Ranson added a team high of five assists.
- San Diego picked up 14 bench points and saw 34 points come from within the paint.
UP NEXT
The Alabama A&M women’s basketball team will return to the hardwood in one week, where they will travel to Lindenwood, Missouri to take on the Lindenwood Lions on Saturday, December 7 at 1 p.m.
