CHICAGO - Stingy team defense and a heavy dose of offense from Maria Tamburrino propelled the 11th-ranked Roosevelt women's basketball team to a 76-53 win over Grace in the consolation game of the 2013 Roosevelt Holiday Hoops Tournament at the Lillian and Larry Goodman Center on Sunday afternoon.
Tamburrino led all scorers with 24 points, accumulating 15 in the first half, to go with six rebounds for the Lakers (12-5).
Casey Davis tallied 17 and Tori Clark scored nine to go with a game-high 10 rebounds and seven assists. Both Davis and Clark were named to the Roosevelt Holiday Hoops All-Tournament Team at the conclusion of the event.
Allison Kauffman led the Lancers (6-9) with 16 points.
The Lakers held the Lancers to just 28 percent shooting, forcing Grace into a difficult start by allowing the guests to connect on just seven of their 30 first-half field goal attempts. Roosevelt totaled 13 steals and caused 21 turnovers for the game to add to Grace's offensive misery.
The Green and White trailed by three five minutes into the game, but Roosevelt responded by going on a 13-0 run and holding Grace without a field goal for over seven minutes.
Roosevelt closed the first half on a 6-0 spurt and took a 16-point lead into the break after ending the period by holding Grace to just one point and no field goals in the last 6:01 of the stanza.
Grace could get no closer than 12 in the second half, as the Lakers' lead ballooned to 30 and stayed in the 20-point range the rest of the way.
Siena Heights won the Roosevelt Holiday Hoops Championship game with a 77-68 decision over 10th-ranked Midland after the Roosevelt win.
Roosevelt takes a break from regular-season play with an exhibition against NCAA Division I foe and city squad UIC this Friday, Jan. 3 at 7 p.m. inside the UIC Pavilion.
2013 Roosevelt Holiday Hoops All-Tournament Team
Casey Davis, Roosevelt
Tori Clark, Roosevelt
Joelle Anderson, Midland
Kellie Page, Midland
Sierra Calhoun, Siena Heights
Tournament Most Valuable Player – Morgan Warfield, Siena Heights
