Women's Basketball 2/18/2012 9:46:00 PM SUU Strategic Communication

Outside Shooting Not Enough as SUU Falls at Oakland

ROCHESTER, Mich. –Feb. 18- Southern Utah matched its season high with six three-pointers against Oakland on Saturday, but it wouldn't be enough as the Thunderbirds fell on the road by a final score of 59-45 to fall to 2-14 in the Summit League this season. The Golden Grizzlies snap a four-game losing streak to improve to 7-8 and improve their standing heading into the post-season tournament.

Oakland outscored the Thunderbirds 11-5 over the first seven minutes of the game behind seven points from Bethany Watterworth who combined with Brittany Carnago to score the first 20 of the game for the Golden Grizzlies.

Following a lay-up by Carli Moreland, sophomore guard Andrea Jones knocked down her second of what would be three shots from behind the arc in the first half to pull SUU within a basket at 13-10. Oakland answered with 12 straight over the next six minutes to push its advantage to fifteen.

Another three from Jones as well as one for Tayler Anderson helped the Thunderbirds close the half on an 8-3 run, narrowing the margin to 28-18 at the break.

Jones did all of her scoring from the outside in the opening period, connecting on each of her three-point field goal attempts for nine first half points. Carnago started the game 5-6 from the floor to score 13 points for the Grizzlies while Watterworth added 10 more after going 2-3 from the outside.

The two teams battled back-and-forth in the early moments of the second half until Kimie Hawkins hit a jumper to pull Southern Utah within eight at 36-28 with 14:41 left on the clock.

The next four minutes saw OU go on a 10-2 run capped by a jumper from Shelby Harrington that gave the Grizzlies their largest lead of the game with the score at 46-30. A pair of three-pointers by Angel Dorn would help SUU trim the deficit to 11 with six and a half minutes left to play, but that is as close as it would get as Oakland held off the Thunderbirds in the final minutes for the 59-45 victory.

The Grizzlies held a 38-25 advantage on the glass in the game and shot the ball 50 percent from the floor in the second half. Southern Utah shot ball over 46 percent from the outside, matching its season high with six three-point field goals, but made just five free throws on eight attempts at the foul line, both of which set new lows for the T-Birds this year.

Watterworth led all scorers with 20 points for Oakland who got another 19 from Carnago. Victoria Lipscomb was just one rebound shy of a double-double after finishing with 10 points and 9 boards. The Grizzlies didn't allow any of the Thunderbirds to score in the double-figures as Jones and Hawkins tied for the team-high with nine apiece.

Southern Utah will play its final road game in the Summit League this Monday when it visits IPFW. The T-Birds took an 80-68 win over the Mastodons in Cedar City earlier this year and will look for the season sweep when the two teams meet in Fort Wayne at 5 p.m. (MT)

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Players Mentioned

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

#4 Angel Dorn: G; 5' 9"; Sophomore

#34 Kimie Hawkins: F; 5' 11"; Junior

#5 Andrea Jones: G; 5' 5"; Sophomore

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

Players Mentioned

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

#4 Angel Dorn
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: G

#34 Kimie Hawkins
: 5' 11"; Junior
: F

#5 Andrea Jones
: 5' 5"; Sophomore
: G

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