“Bulldogs close out First Day of Thanksgiving Classic.”

SAN DIEGO | Three Bulldogs finished in double figures as the Alabama A&M women’s basketball team narrowly trailed the Utah Valley Wolverines 56-54 in their first contest of the San Diego Thanksgiving Classic.

senior Lauryn Pendleton paced the Bulldogs, scoring 16 points and four rebounds. Kalia Walker followed with 14 points, two assists and two steals. Kourtney Rittenberry recorded 10 points and five rebounds Alisha Wilson led the Bulldog defense with seven boards of his own. AAMU took a 13-13 lead and scored nine second-chance points.

Tahlia White led the Wolverines with 19 points, four boards and three steals. Ally Criddle led UVU with five rebounds and four assists. Utah Valley collected 16 bench points and saw 40 points come from the field.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Two free throws from Walker brought the Bulldogs within two yards of the Wolverines, but a 5-0 run gave UVU a 16-9 lead at the end of the first quarter

• Walker added five unanswered points to extend AAMU’s lead to 49-47, but a three-pointer from Ciddle gave the Wolverines the ammunition they needed to go three points ahead of the Bulldogs, resulting in that AAMU called a stoppage of play (52-49).

• Criddle recorded a layup that made the difference as Utah Valley won the contest 56-54.

GAME NOTES

• The Bulldogs finished the game with a team-high 22 points, 11 points off 17 Wolverine turnovers and seven bench points

NEXT

AAMU faces the San Diego Toreros on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. PST, streaming live on ESPN+. This will be the first meeting between the two.

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