TIFTON, Ga. - The Thomas University women's basketball program tipped off the 2026-27 campaign with a showing against the Columbia International Rams in the ABAC Classic on Friday afternoon. The Night Hawks, led by
Ameari Logan's game-high 17 points, rallied to start Year Two in the
Jordan Booker era with a 66-61 win.
Trista Bennett logged the first points of the season with a jumper at the 8:41 mark before knocking down two free throws a minute later to keep TU even with CIU early. An 8-0 Rams run was stopped by two makes from the stripe by Logan. She'd tack on two more along with a layup, while
Zyi'Kiera King had the final first-quarter basket for Thomas.
Down 16-12 through the first ten minutes, King was fouled on an attempted three-pointer and laced all three of the following shots from the line to bring TU within one. A Ram three-pointer pushed the lead back to four before back-to-back Logan buckets evened up the contest at 19 apiece. Thomas spread out the scoring with layups from Bennett and
Keiane' Rollins before the media timeout to give the Night Hawks a 23-21 lead.
After a Ram layup,
Kyla Raven added a basket at the 4:21 mark to start a 7-0 run for TU, highlighted by a three-pointer from
Jayla Holden.
Skylar Patten got in on the action and TU entered the halftime intermission with a 34-30 lead after a 22-point quarter.
In the second half, the Rams rallied but TU still maintained the lead through three quarters. King notched another shot from deep, while Raven and Rollins added a few more scores to give Thomas a 45-39 lead with halfway through the quarter. CIU chipped away and made it a one-possession game, with the Night Hawks holding a narrow 50-47 lead entering the final frame.Â
Rollins began the fourth with a tough and-one basket at the 9:21 mark to bring the lead back to six, but the Rams woke up with two three-pointers of their own to negate another Bennet basket. A third three gave CIU a 56-55 lead with 6:23 remaining, but Rollins absorbed contact with another hard basket in the paint to put TU back in front by one. The Night Hawks wouldn't relinquish the lead from their talons the rest of the way, with a
Jada Rawls three-pointer proving to be the exclamation mark. Logan sunk her sixth basket for the final Thomas score to end the 66-61 victory.
Logan's six assists were also a team high, while her scoring performance was flanked by Rollins and Bennett in double figures with 11 and 10, respectively. Rollins brought down a team-best seven of the team's 29 rebounds while also making out with four of the eleven steals. The Night Hawks' defense coaxed 20 turnovers and turned them into 21 points in the affair.
Thomas (1-0) continues the ABAC Classic against Paine College on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 12:00 p.m. back inside Gresette Gymnasium.
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