Surviving 19 first-half turnovers, USF shot .472 from the floor and hit 55-percent of its shots in the first half, with a 10-point, four-rebound effort from junior forward Alisia Jenkins. Fellow junior Courtney Williams played just seven minutes in the first half due to foul trouble and Illinois took advantage, scoring 19 points off turnovers to grab a 33-28 lead at the half.

Fresh out of the break, Williams helped lead the charge as the Bulls climbed back into the game in the second half. The guard scored 12 of her 18 points in the second half, including a layup with 12 minutes remaining to tie the game for the first time since the three-minute mark in the first half, at 41. USF scored nine of the final 14 points in regulation to seal the win.

East Carolina 61, Wisconsin 43

Junior forward I’Tiana Taylor scored 13 points and grabbed a season-high 17 rebounds to lead East Carolina to a 61-43 victory over Wisconsin at the Junkanoo Jam Friday evening.
 
Despite the matchup being the first between East Carolina (6-1) and Wisconsin (1-4) in the all-time series, the win was the first for the Pirates over a team from the Big Ten Conference since defeating Michigan State, 76-72, on Feb. 28, 1982.

Taylor shot 5-for-14 from the floor while grabbing six offensive and 11 defensive boards for her first-career double-double. Redshirt junior Jada Payne scored a game-high 17 points on 7-for-15 shooting overall and 3-for-5 from 3-point range.

Tulsa 87, Buffalo 77

Ashley Clark had a double-double and Mariah Turner posted double-figure points to lead Tulsa to an 87-77 win over Buffalo (UB) Friday afternoon in the Miami Thanksgiving Tournament in Coral Gables, Fla. The Golden Hurricane moved to 3-2 on the season, while UB fell to 2-3 overall.

Clark finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds, 12 of which were defensive boards, while Turner added 22 points. Antoinet Webster, Kadan Brady and Teanna Reid all finished with nine points.  Reid tallied seven assists while Brady and Kelsee Grovey each had two steals.
 
The Golden Hurricane finished with 57-percent shooting from the field. Tulsa had solid shooting in the first half and led the Bulls 46-31 at the break. The Hurricane’s 46 points were the most in a half this season. 

SMU 77, Florida A&M 46

SMU defeated Florida A&M, 77-46, Friday night at Moody Coliseum in the SMU Thanksgiving Classic. With the win, the Mustangs advanced to the championship game of the classic to face USC, who defeated Sam Houston State 88-67.

SMU (3-2) held Florida A&M (1-4) to just 13-55 (23.6%) shooting, including a 6-23 (26.1%) clip from beyond the arc.  The Mustangs also outrebounded Florida A&M 59-29.   

Behind junior forward Destynee Hives-McCray and freshman forwards Alicia Froling and Taylor Brame, the Mustangs dominated the paint and jumped out to an early 10-0 lead in the first three minutes of action. Hives-McCray finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds, recording her third double-double this season and the 12th of her career. Froling added 14 points and 10 boards for first career double-double, while Brame also tallied her first with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
 
No. 3/3 UConn 85, College of Charleston 24

No. 3/3 UConn topped College of Charleston (CofC), 85-24, Friday night in the Gulf Coast Showcase. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis scored 21 points and Morgan Tuck added 15 for the Huskies (3-1), who will play Vanderbilt (5-0) on Saturday in the winners' bracket semifinals. The Commodores beat Minnesota 71-54. Wisconsin-Green Bay, a 71-50 winner over Georgia Tech; and Arizona State, which rallied to beat Villanova 51-46, will meet in the other winners' bracket semifinal in Southwest Florida.

UConn led 50-13 at halftime and scored the first 17 points of the second half. CofC, who made just 6-of-28 shots in the first period, was scoreless in the first seven minutes of the second half. The Cougars shot just 16.4 percent (10-of-61) in the matchup vs. the Huskies.

RV/RV Western Kentucky 69, NR/RV Tulane 64

It was a back and forth clash between two teams that have received votes in the latest polls, but it was Western Kentucky (4-2) who dealt Tulane (4-1) its first loss of the season, besting the Green Wave 69-64 in day one action of the Hofstra Thanksgiving Tournament.

Kolby Morgan finished with a career high 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field and a 5-of-9 mark from beyond the arc. Jamie Kaplan added 11 points, marking her second straight contest in double figures. The senior shot 3-of-8 from the floor, 4-of-5 from the free-throw line and produced a season high seven assists.

The Hilltoppers closed the first half on a 7-0 run but the Green Wave had a three-point lead at the break, 30-27. Western Kentucky carried the momentum into the second half and earned their first lead of the game at the 15:59 mark on 3-pointer from Micah Jones. The next eight and a half minutes featured five lead changes and three ties, with the Hilltoppers ending the see-saw battle with a 14-3 run to grab a 54-46 lead with 7:32 remaining. Tulane pulled within three points of the lead later in the game but Jones, an .841 career shooter from the free-throw line, sealed the win for the Hilltoppers with four straight points from the charity stripe.

Idaho State 73, Houston 67

Houston rallied from multiple deficits but could not complete the comeback, falling to Idaho State, 73-67, in their first game at the San Juan Shootout Friday evening at Mario Morales Coliseum. The loss drops the Cougars to 2-2 overall.

After falling behind by 11 points early in the second half, Houston came back and took the lead, 57-56, on a Terran Alford put back with 7:00 left. The Bengals got a basket from Megan Hochstein on the very next possession to reclaim the lead, however, and they never trailed again.

Marche’ Amerson finished with a season-high 20 points for Houston. Alecia Smith added 12 points and Jessieka Palmer chipped in 10.

Creighton 63, Cincinnati 52

Cincinnati dropped the opening game of the Cal Classic Friday evening to Creighton by a 63-52 score inside Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, Calif.

Brandey Tarver recorded her first career double-digit scoring effort with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and a 3-of-3 outing from the free-throw line. The sophomore guard also recorded three blocks in the contest, the first three in her career. Jasmine Whitfield led the Bearcats in scoring with 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting. It marks the third time this season and the eighth time in her career she has reached double digits in scoring. Whitfield has also led the team in scoring in three of four games this year.

Cincinnati recorded a season-high five blocks in the contest and recorded a season high in steals with eight.