Box Score Box Score

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico--Winthrop fell to Gonzaga 80-66 on Thursday in the third place game of the 2012 Hardwood Tournament of Hope.

The loss drops the Eagles to 2-3 on the season while Gonzaga improves to 6-1.  The game was the first ever meeting for the Winthrop women against the Zags, who won the game on the strength of its offensive rebounding that produced a 16-3 advantage and a 48 percent shooting effort..

Winthrop placed four players in double figures as did Gonzaga.  The Eagles were led for the second straight by junior point guard Dequesha McClanahan who finished with 23 points to take game-high scoring honors.  She also dished out six assists.  Diana Choibekova, Samiya Wright and Aliyah Kilpatrick each finished with 11 points.  Gonzaga was led by 6-2 freshman guard Elle Tinkle who came off the bench to score 14.

The Eagles trailed 42-34 at halftime as Gonzaga  shot 50 percent from the floor in the opening period (16-32) and connected on 4 of 10 from behind the arc.  Winthrop shot 39 percent in the first half  (12-31), but did improve in the second period and finished the game at 41.4 percent (24-58).  The Zags connected on 31 of 65 for the game.

Winthrop took an early 5-2 lead on a McClanahan layup with 18:39 left in the first half, but a layup by Shelby Cheslek gave the Zags a 9-7 lead at the 15:41 mark and they would lead the rest of the way.  Gpnzaga led twice in the first half by 11 and as many as 19 in the second half.

Winthrop's next game will be on Nov. 28 when the Eagles travel to the College of Charleston for a 7 p.m. contest.