CEDAR CITY, Utah - Nov. 12 - Southern Utah women's basketball will take to the floor for its season-opening game with UC Davis on Friday night. The Lady T-Birds were 1-1 during the exhibition season, but have plenty of momentum after an 84-59 victory over Mesa State last weekend.
Much of the emotion from that game stemmed from the passing of head coach Steve Hodson due to complications with cancer. Southern Utah plans on dedicating the season to his memory and hopes to feed off that emotional intensity throughout the year.
Stephanie Sampson led all scorers in the 84-59 win with a career-high 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor. Cassi Jones (12) and Anne Higbee (10) joined Sampson in double figures with Jones tying Challis Pascucci for a game-high six rebounds.
Southern Utah continued to be bit by the turnover bug, committing 21 in all, but a 52-percent clip from the field kept the Thunderbirds ahead. The T-Bird defense also provided a lift, forcing 22 Maverick turnovers and holding Mesa State to only 32 percent from the field.
“UC Davis is a great program, but are very young like we are,” interim head coach Kit Janes said. “They have some tournament experience from last year and play the game with a lot of intensity. We'll need to match their intensity and limit our turnovers to be successful.”
Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Centrum Arena.
Scouting UC Davis
UC Davis finished the 2007-08 campaign with an at-large WNIT berth after a 19-11 regular season. The Aggies lost to Gonzaga in the opening round, but have posted back-to-back exhibition victories to begin this season.
Senior guard Genevieve Costello leads the team in scoring with 16 points and 4.5 assists per game. Freshman forward Vicky Deely leads the team in rebounding with 8.5 per contest.
The Aggies have showed the ability to score from several different players as six players scored in double figures in their 118-44 victory over Australian Showtime. The team then had four players record double digits in an 87-53 win over Sonoma State.
Head coach Sandy Smith is in his 11th season at the helm of the UC Davis program. He currently holds a career record of 163-87. The Aggies own the all-time series lead with a 1-0 mark (UCD 73-SUU 46, 2005-06).
Last Time for the T-Birds
Lady Thunderbirds Collect Meaningful Win in Final Exhibition Contest
CEDAR CITY, Utah - Nov. 7 - Southern Utah's 84-59 win over Mesa State on Friday night might have been just an exhibition game, but the victory had a far greater reach than on the hardwood. Coaches and players each expressed their focus in winning the game for head coach Steve Hodson who had passed away from a prolonged battle with cancer on Monday night.
Remembering Coach Hodson
Steve Hodson Passes Away After an Extended Battle with Cancer
CEDAR CITY, Utah - Nov. 4 - Southern Utah University women's basketball head coach Steve Hodson passed away on Monday night after an extended battle with cancer. Coach Hod approached the challenge with positive determination and will be remembered as a loving father, grandfather, mentor and coach.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with (his wife) Suzy and their family at the passing of Steve,” SUU athletic director Ken Beazer said. “His courage and positive attitude in which he attacked this disease has been a great example to others and a credit to the type of person that he was.
“He has touched the lives of countless individuals for good and his passing not only leaves a hole at SUU, but in the sport of basketball in this region.”
Hodson's name was synonymously with basketball and the southern Utah area. He spent all but a year of his coaching career in Iron and Washington Counties after finishing his playing career with the Thunderbirds.
Hodson helped the Thunderbirds to the NAIA National Tournament in 1977 and was a two-time all-District performer on the hardwood. He was also voted to Southern Utah's all-1970's team.
He began his coaching career at Cedar High School as an assistant coach in 1977 and returned as the head coach in 1983-87 and 1991-97. In between, Hodson made stops as an assistant with Dixie State College (1980-83) and as an assistant with SUU (1987-1991), helping the Thunderbird program transition from the Division II to Division I level.
Prior to his appointment as the head women's basketball coach at Southern Utah, Hodson served as the boy's head coach (1998-2000), girl's head coach (2001-2006) and athletic director of Cedar City's Canyon View High School.
Hodson holds the distinction of being the only Utah high school coach to win state boy's and girl's basketball titles at three different programs and one of only three coaches in the state to win boy's and girl's basketball titles. He also accumulated individual honors as a seven-time Region 9 Coach of the Year and two-time 3A Coach of the Year.
Hodson is survived by his wife Suzy, daughters Annie, Summer and Kristy, and five grandchildren.
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