Second Chances Doom T-Birds in 68-52 Defeat to Oakland

CEDAR CITY, Utah - Feb. 15 - Southern Utah surrendered 22 offensive rebounds, leading to 22 second-chance points for Oakland as the Thunderbirds suffered a 68-52 defeat on Monday night. The loss drops SUU to 6-19 overall and 4-10 in Summit League play, while Oakland moves to 14-12 and 11-4 in conference play.

"We started well and that was a good change from the way we came out on Saturday," head coach JR Payne said after the game. "However, we didn't take care of the the things we could and Oakland's aggressive play led to offensive rebounds and more trips to the free throw line. Those two things just made the difference tonight."

SUU opened the first half by stretching the floor and running at every opportunity, using the runs to build a 12-8 lead five minutes into the game. However, a scoring lull by the T-Birds over the next five minutes led to a 12-0 run by Oakland, leaving the score at 20-12 in OU's favor.

Southern Utah shooters finally found the touch as SUU scored the next three baskets on a Challis Pascucci layup, a Dani Hosking jumper and a Tayler Anderson layup. Oakland maintained a marginal lead down the stretch and carried a 35-26 advantage into the break on a last-second shot by Hanna Reising as the buzzer sounded.

Oakland's Victoria Lipscomb scored the first bucket of the second half to give the Golden Grizzlies their first double-digit lead of the game. Southern Utah cut the lead to eight (39-31) and nine (43-34) on 3-pointers by Caitlyn Sears and Dani Hosking, but it was as close as the T-Birds came as OU maintained the double-digit margin down the stretch.

Southern Utah was led in scoring and rebounding by Pascucci with a team-best 15 points and seven rebounds. Oakland was led by Melissa Jeltema with 26 points and a team-best ten rebounds. Nine of Oakland's 22 offensive boards were credited to the team as the ball seemed to squirt off the hands of Thunderbird rebounders on multiple occasions.

Free throws also made the difference as SUU made it to the line only three times, compared to 24 trips by the Golden Grizzlies. OU converted on 17 of those opportunities.

SUU will embark on its final road trip of the season this coming weekend when the Thunderbirds face IUPUI and Western Illinois.

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Players Mentioned

#31 Tayler Anderson: G/F; 6' 0"; Freshman

#22 Dani Hosking: G; 5' 8"; Sophomore

#24 Challis Pascucci: F; 6' 2"; Junior

#32 Caitlyn Sears: G/F; 5' 10"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#31 Tayler Anderson
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: G/F

#22 Dani Hosking
: 5' 8"; Sophomore
: G

#24 Challis Pascucci
: 6' 2"; Junior
: F

#32 Caitlyn Sears
: 5' 10"; Junior
: G/F