MALIBU, Calif. ? Kentucky used a tenacious rebounding effort and rallied from a 10-point first half deficit Saturday to defeat Hofstra 67-54 in the championship game of the Pepperdine Thanksgiving Tournament. It marked the Wildcats? first tournament championship since the 2001-02 season.

Sophomore guard Samantha Mahoney scored a team-high 13 points to lead the Cats (4-0). Junior guard Jenny Pfeiffer (N. Vernon, Ind.) scored 12 points, while sophomore center Sarah Elliott (McKee, Ky.) played 31 minutes and added 11 points. Kentucky out-rebounded Hofstra 46-33 and out-scored the Pride 21-13 in second-chance opportunities.

Guard Nastassia Alcius (Lexington, Ky.) chipped in eight points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field, while senior forward/center Jennifer Humphrey (Memphis) added a game-high eight rebounds.

For the game, the Wildcats shot 38.3 percent (23-of-60) from the floor, but connected on 64 percent of its free-throws and utilized a sizable rebounding advantage. In the second half alone, the Cats out-scored the Pride 18-2 in points in the paint.

Kentucky returns to action Thursday when it hosts Florida International. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. in Memorial Coliseum. The game will be carried live on the Big Blue Sports Network (radio) with Neil Price. Live stats will be available on ukathletics.com.