The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE Thanksgiving holiday weekend featured standout performances from Bahamian players at the collegiate level, highlighted by a career high from Shalonda Neely.

Led by head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin, the Jacksonville University women's basketball team finished the Fairfield Inn Thanksgiving Classic with a pair of wins and improved their win-loss record to 4-2.

Neely scored a career high 12 points and added six rebounds (6-10 from the field) in a 74-65 win over Monmouth.

Neely, who also played a career high 24 minutes, pushed Jacksonville back up by 10 with a hook shot on the team's first possession of the latter half. "We're learning. We're growing. This is a new team," said McPhee-McCuin. "If our team can really buy in to defending at a high level, we'll have even more success. I was disappointed with our free throw effort tonight. We left 12 points on the board, but overall, I'm proud that we found a way to win."

After going scoreless in the first game of the season, Neely scored four points in each contest against Iona, Alabama and Nicholls State.

After an appearance with the national team at the Centrobasket Championships this summer, Neely said it set the tone for an improved season this year.

"It helped me to get back to my toughness, my fighting and being strong offensively and defensively, she said.

Last season as a sophomore, Neely appeared in 27 games with three starts. She earned a spot in the starting lineup during the ASUN Tournament and WNIT action vs. Georgia Tech. She posted a career high 10 points with seven rebounds vs. NJIT and finished the season with 52 points, 66 rebounds, 11 steals and nine blocks.

They closed out the tournament with a 64-43 victory over Webber International.

"We have depth, and it was very important to give the bench some opportunities to get some shots and playing time," said McPhee-McCuin. "Now, we'll prepare for a good team in Florida."

The Dolphins will take to the court again when they face the Florida Gators at 7pm tonight.

"Like every year the end goal is to win a championship," McPhee-McCuin said after the Dolphins' first practice of the season.

Described as one of the toughest schedules in programme history, depth can be the deciding factor on how far the team goes.

"This is the most depth we've had from top to bottom - which I'm extremely excited about," she said. "We have a lot of new pieces, we only have one freshman so we're very mature. We brought in some junior college players. Our senior leadership has been phenomenal, this is year five for us as a programme and you can tell because there is a way we do things and for the most part the girls have bought into that so I'm excited about where we are going. They work hard and this is a group where the culture is starting to show."

Last season, the Dolphins came up just short in making consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament but earned a berth in the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). They received an at-large bid and ultimately lost in the first round to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

She led the Dolphins to 23 wins, which tied the school mark for most wins in a season, and they also had the best RPI in the conference.