CEDAR CITY, Utah - Feb. 21 - Southern Utah's Dani Hosking scored the
first basket of the game and the Thunderbirds never looked back as SUU
captured an 84-68 home victory over Centenary on Saturday night. The
win improves the T-Birds to 9-17 overall and 5-10 in conference play
while Centenary drops to 4-22 and 2-13 in The Summit League.
Southern Utah trailed only once during the entire 40 minutes with Centenary leading 10-9 on back-to-back free throws by Cierra Bush at the 13:07 mark, but Thunderbird runs late in the half gave the home team a lead of as much as 14 (38-24) with 1:56 to play. A 3-point basket by the Ladies, one of nine on the night, with six seconds on the clock put the score at 38-27 going into the break.
Senior Anne Westwood Higbee finished the game with a double-double, including 16 points and 15 rebounds and had already totaled double-digit boards in the first half by pulling down ten over the first 20 minutes.
Southern Utah opened the second half with a quick 12-2 run to take its largest lead of the game of 21 (50-29) with 16:55 on the clock. Following a timeout, Centenary countered with a 13-2 run that cut the Thunderbird advantage to ten (52-42), but SUU regrouped and maintained a double-digit lead through most of the second half.
The T-Birds weathered the final push by the Ladies as the score was cut to within nine (73-64) with 4:10 to play, but finished the half on an 11-4 run to seal the 84-68 victory.
Higbee led the Thunderbirds in scoring and was joined in double figures by Challis Pascucci (14), Caitlyn Sears (14), Hosking (11) and Cassie Platt with ten. Centenary had three in double digits, led by Michaela Berg with 15, Karolina Zaloga with 12 and Natasa Draganic with ten.
Southern Utah created 14 more scoring opportunities than its opponent through turnovers, forcing 18 Lady mistakes and collecting 20 offensive rebounds. The T-Birds also spread the ball around, recording 23 assists on 32 field goals.
"I thought we did a great job tonight," interim head coach Kit Janes said. "We gave up too many three's and allowed them to stay close, but I think the team really shared the ball well and we did a lot of good things. It was a big win for us."
SUU will be back in action on Monday night when the Thunderbirds host Oral Roberts on Senior Night. Southern Utah senior Anne Westwood Higbee is scheduled to be honored prior to tip-off in the final home game of the season. Tip-off for that game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
