CEDAR CITY, Utah ? Nov. 26 ? Southern Utah women's basketball suffered its second home loss this season with a 66-46 setback to the Oregon State Beavers on Monday night. The loss drops the Thunderbirds to 1-5 while OSU improves to 4-1.
Southern Utah stayed with the PAC-10 school throughout most of the the first half, but fizzled at the end of the first and the beginning of the second as the Beavers put together the definitive 11-0 run to seal the win.
“I thought we executed well in the first half, but we need to complete the half better and treat every possession with importance,” head coach Steve Hodson said after the game. “We need to come out in the second half with the same fire and intensity that we have at the opening whistle.”
The Thunderbirds took the first lead of the game as freshman Caitlyn Sears nailed a 3-point field goal on a pass from fellow freshman-starter Kaila Goff following the opening tip.
However, it was the first and only lead of the game for SUU as Oregon State began chipping away and built a lead as large as nine points (18-9) with 11 minutes remaining in the first half.
Southern Utah countered and cut the lead to two as Erin Heuett connected on a 3-point attempt to bring the Thunderbirds to within 18-16 with nine minutes remaining.
SUU continued to keep the Beavers within a manageable distance with the opposition's lead growing to only five. Southern Utah persisted in its counter runs and trimmed the lead to two for the second in the half as freshman Challis Pascucci hit the front end of a one and one to make the difference 23-21 with four minutes remaining.
Oregon State then began its 11-0 run stretching over the final four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second. By that time, the Beaver lead had grown to 34-21 and OSU continued to hold the double-digit advantage throughout the second half.
The Beavers capped their largest lead of the game at 27 with the 64-27 advantage at the 3:57 mark, but Southern Utah's grit cut the lead to 20 when the final whistle sounded.
Anne Westwood and Pascucci led the Thunderbirds in points with 12 a piece with Heuett joining the duo in double figures with 11. Westwood also led the team in rebounds with seven.
Oregon State's Ashley Allen led all scorers with a game-high 23 with Talisa Rhea (17) and Brittney Davis (10) also in double figures.
Southern Utah will now have almost two weeks before its next games when the team travels and begins Summit League play in the first week of December. On tap for the Thunderbirds will be the Mastodons of IPFW on Thursday, Dec. 6 and the Golden Grizzlies of Oakland University on Saturday, Dec. 8.
