December 30, 2024
#1 Eagles Win Cougar Holiday Tournament
Kirkwood 86
Schoolcraft 38
43rd Annual Cougar Holiday Tournament
Kirkwood capped off their stay in Peoria, IL with an impressive 86-38 victory over (RV) Schoolcraft in the championship game of the 43rd Annual Cougar Holiday Tournament Monday afternoon.
Playing their third game in three days the Eagles found themselves in a back-and-forth contest during the opening minutes of the game.
Sophomore Jenna Twedt's second three-pointer of the first quarter, would give Kirkwood a 16-14 lead with 3:23 left.
The Eagles, who would not trail the rest of the game following that three-pointer by Twedt, held a slim 18-14 lead after a quarter.
The second quarter saw Kirkwood (15-0) pick up their intensity on the defensive end, as they used a 13-2 run over the first 5:02 of the quarter to take a 31-16 lead.
Twedt would knock down her fourth three-pointer of the first half to give the Eagles a 40-20 lead with under a minute left in the half.
Kirkwood continued to cause havoc for Schoolcraft's offense in the third quarter, as they extended their lead to 54-24 on a layup by sophomore Kaliyah Sain with 5:08 remaining in the quarter.
The Eagles would own a comfortable 66-28 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
All 12 Eagles who saw action would etch their name in the scoring column, led by sophomore Lizzy Puot's 14 points and seven rebounds.
Twedt and Sain both finished with 13 points. Sain led the Eagles battle on the board with a career-high nine rebounds.
Kirkwood outscored Schoolcraft 30-1 in bench points, led by sophomore Ella Pritchard's 11 points.
Freshman Olivia Wren and sophomore Jariah Harris both scored eight points a piece.
Sophomore Ellah Kissell added five points, while freshmen Eva Steffenson and Kennedy Blakely both contributed four points each.
Sophomores Shyla Moore (3 points), Kora Alesch (2 points), and Sam Veto (1 point) rounded out the scoring for the Eagles.
Kirkwood won the battle on the boards 47-32 against the much taller Ocelots.
The Eagles will return to ICCAC play on Wednesday, January 8th when they host Marshalltown in Johnson Hall at 5:30 pm.
Link to Box Score:
