Women's Basketball 12/1/2011 5:43:00 AM SUU Strategic Communication

Southern Utah Pulls Away from Utah Valley 80-65

CEDAR CITY, Utah Nov. 30 – Southern Utah had one of its most productive nights of offense so far this season on Wednesday, outscoring visiting in-state rival Utah Valley by a final count of 80-65. Freshman point guard Hailey Mandelko came into the game as the Thunderbirds leading scorer on the year and eventually finished the night with a career high 23 points.

The Thunderbirds got things going right from the start on their end of the court, converting 10 of their first 15 field goal attempts for a 24-12 lead near the 10-minute mark. Mandelko did the majority of the scoring in the game's early minutes, pouring in 14 during Southern Utah's opening run. The freshman point guard was accurate from long range, draining three three-pointers, and was able to consistently get to the free throw line where she was 5-5 in the in the opening half.

Utah Valley made a push to trim the lead to five over the next five minutes with a 13-6 run capped by a three-point play by Erika Newbold. SUU wouldn't allow UVU to get any closer however as they held off the Wolverines attempted rally to take a 41-35 advantage into the break.

Both teams struggled to score the ball in the opening minutes of the second period, and after nine minutes of play the T-Birds still found themselves in control with an eight point, leading Utah Valley 51-43. Southern Utah would then run off seven unanswered to stretch its advantage to a game-high 15 at 58-43. SUU maintained control for the remainder of the game as the Wolverines were rarely got the deficit back down to single digits. On one of those occasions Newbold was able to complete another three-point play to pull UVU within nine, but the Thunderbirds outscored the visitors 11-5 in the final two and a half minutes to take the 15 point victory and set the final margin at 80-65.

Mandelko led all scorers with 23 points, finishing the game 4-8 from behind the arc and 7-7 at the free throw line. Three other players would also score in the double-figures for SUU as Kimie Hawkins had 12, DJ Norman matched a career high with 10 and Carli Moreland set a new personal best with 17. Junior forward Tayler Anderson also helped to fill the box score with eight points, seven assists and eight rebounds. Junior center Erica Newbold paced Utah Valley with 14 points, six of which came from the free throw line.

“We were much more aggressive on offense than we have been,” said head coach JR Payne of her team's season high 80 points. “Hailey scored a lot for us early but we had better balance later on.”

Southern Utah claims its second straight victory to improve to 2-4 on the year, while the Wolverines drop to 2-3. Up next for the Thunderbirds is their first Summit League game of the season as they travel to Oral Roberts this Saturday. The game is set to get underway at 1:05 p.m. (MST)

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Players Mentioned

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

#15 Carli Moreland: F; 6' 1"; Freshman

#10 DJ Norman: G; 5' 9"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

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

#15 Carli Moreland
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: F

#10 DJ Norman
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: G

Players Mentioned

#31 Tayler Anderson

#15 Carli Moreland

#10 DJ Norman

Players Mentioned

#31 Tayler Anderson

#15 Carli Moreland

#10 DJ Norman