CEDAR CITY, Utah - Feb. 27 - Southern Utah scored the first bucket of the game an only surrendered the lead twice in a 74-64 victory over the Centenary Ladies on Saturday night to snap a seven-game losing streak and clinch a spot in the Summit League tournament next weekend. The victory gives the T-Birds an overall record of 7-21 on the year and a 5-12 mark in league play, CC dropped to 2-26 and 1-16 for the year.
Caitlyn Sears recorded the first points of the game with a layup and it wasn't until a jumper by Centenary's Vashni Sharp Moore at the 13:30 mark that the lead was relinquished to the Ladies. A layup by Dani Hosking and a pair of free throws by Moore caused the lead to change hands again, but a jumper by Sears kick started a 12-2 Thunderbird run over the next four minutes, giving SUU a 26-17 advantage with 7:13 to play.
Centenary drew the margin to as close as four (28-24) down the stretch, but a Sears' jumper and an answering shot by CC's Janela Sanders left the score at 34-28 going into the intermission.
Southern Utah began the second half much like the first, scoring the first basket as Challis Pasucci followed her own missed layup to record an offensive rebound, one of four for the junior on the night, and a put back to give the Thunderbirds an eight-point lead (36-28).
Centenary would only pull to within four during the second half as the T-Birds used a strong rebounding effort, including 17 offensive boards during the final 20 minutes, to maintain the lead. A late 7-0 run gave SUU its first double-digit lead of the game (60-49) as Sears capped the run with a jumper with 4:41 to play.
Free throws down the stretch sealed the 74-64 victory as Kaila Goff and Hosking combined to shoot 7-of-8 from the charity stripe during the final 48 seconds of the game.
Sears led all players in scoring with a game-high 24 points on 11-of-15 shooting and filled out the stat sheet with six rebounds and seven assists. She was followed by Pascucci with 18 points and ten rebounds, marking her 12th double-double of the season, and Kaila Goff with 12 points, five rebounds and eight assists.
Centenary was led by four players in double figures with Ashley Jackson leading the way with 12, followed by Leslie Forest, Bethany Joseph and Anne Farrell, each with ten.
Southern Utah will close out the regular season with its home finale against league-leading Oral Roberts on Monday night. Tip-off for that game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. with fans able to receive reduced admission with the donations of new shoes as part of SUU women's basketball Barefoot for Bare Feet campaign.
