CEDAR CITY, Utah - Feb. 16 - Southern Utah women's basketball went
shot-for-shot with North Dakota State over the first ten minutes of the
game on Saturday night, but the Bison stayed hot and shot 54 percent
from the floor en route to an 87-62 win over the Thunderbirds. The loss
drops SUU to 6-18 (4-9 in conference play) on the year and snaps a
three-game home winning streak. North Dakota State improves to 14-10
and 9-5 in The Summit League.
"I think the worst thing that could come from this loss is that our team will think we are not that good," head coach Steve Hodson said after the game. "We know that isn't the case and my hat is off to North Dakota State and their shooters tonight. We did an average job of stepping out on them, but they just couldn't miss tonight.
"This is all they are playing for right now," he continued. "We hope that we will be playing our best basketball in the opening rounds of the conference tournament."
Southern Utah is still in control to enter The Summit League Tournament as the sixth seed with South Dakota State and North Dakota State not eligible this year because of reclassifying restrictions.
Both teams started quickly with ten lead changes in the first ten minutes. North Dakota State made its break with 9:39 in the first half and put together a 17-6 run over the next six minutes for a 40-28 advantage with 3:49 remaining. The double-digit lead held going into the break (45-33) despite Southern Utah cutting the gap to single digits on an Anne Westwood free throw and a Hailee Truman jumper.
North Dakota State opened the second half with four points in the beginning minutes to take a 49-33 lead. Southern Utah matched the four points on a Westwood and Challis Pascucci jumper, but the lead soon ballooned to 20 as NDSU countered with a 10-2 run. The advantage grew to as much as 25 midway through the final half and peaked at 27 (87-60) as Emily Moran hit the Bison's 11th 3-point field goal of the night with 2:23 on the clock.
In the end, two Erin Haskins free throws trimmed the score to 87-62 and North Dakota State ran out the clock for the victory.
Southern Utah opened the game shooting 57.7 percent and finished the game with a season-high 48.1 percent from the floor. Pascucci and Westwood led the Thunderbirds with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
NDSU's Moran led all scorers with 20 points, followed by Brenda Slyt with 19, Lisa Bue with 18 and Jerri Penley with 12.
The Thunderbirds will be back in action on Monday night when Southern Utah hosts league-leading South Dakota State. Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
