BOX SCORE

GEORGETOWN, Texas – The Concordia Texas women's basketball team tipped off the 2016 edition of the Thanksgiving Classic at Southwestern Saturday with a 67-53 victory over Texas Lutheran.

Mercedes Ellison had a game-high 21 points. Emily Cullers added 12 points and Jaela Dejean chipped in 10 to lead the Concordia (3-0) scoring effort.

The Tornados scored 24 points off 24 TLU turnovers, aided by 11 CTX steals including five from Cullers.

Brenisha Payne grabbed a game-high eight board.

The two teams traded buckets for the entire first quarter as Texas Lutheran emerged with a 20-16 advantage. The lead was short-lived, however, as CTX opened the second on a 12-2 run to eventually take a 26-20 lead with 7:00 to play in the half. The Bulldogs would draw back within three, but the Tornados used a 6-0 spurt to increase the gap to nine. TLU closed out the opening half on a 4-0 rally, but CTX went into the break on top, 37-32.

The Tornados kept all the momentum and came out of the locker room on a 13-3 rally to start the half, capped by a Cullers triple. Concordia got out to a 15-point lead at 50-35 with 4:32 left in the third.

The CTX defense held the Bulldogs to just seven total points in the fourth quarter. The Tornados were 6-of-11 at the line in the final 10 minutes to help seal the victory.

Concordia returns to the floor tomorrow against the Pirates. Tip-off is at 4 p.m.