TINA STEPHENS: AT IT AGAIN!
With three players setting career highs in scoring and two in rebounding, the University of Kansas Jayhawks rolled pass Florida Atlantic University, 90-60, to win the FAU Thanksgiving tournament in FAU Arena on Saturday, November 30th.
Junior forward and Manatee County native Tina Stephens, had her third double-double of the season with a Kansas career-best 19 points and 15 rebounds. Sophomore guard Brooklyn Mitchell led the team in scoring with a career high 23 points on 76.9% from the field and sophomore guard Aniya Thomas finished with a career-best 19 points and seven rebounds. Mitchell and Stephens also received tournament awards: Mitchell won MVP and Stephens earned All-Tournament team honors.
Stephens arrived at Kansas after two years with Florida Southwestern University (FSW) in Ft. Myers. After her high school career at Palmetto High School where she was a four-year varsity letter winner, a first team all county selection, finishing her prep career with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, Stephens went on to FSW where she had banner years in 2018-2019. She became the first from the women’s basketball team to earn a spot on a NJCAA Division I Women’s Basketball All-America Team, was named NJCAA All-American Honorable Mention and was named the NJCAA Suncoast Conference Player of the Year. She powered FSW to its best season in program history, leading them to a Suncoast Conference Championship and their first appearance at the NJCAA National Tournament.
The Jayhawks competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I with such teams as Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor and Texas Tech. They will face the University of Florida Gators at home on Sunday, December 8, at 2:00 p.m.
