SACRAMENTO, Calif., Jan. 11 – Southern Utah (8-4, 2-1 BSC) shot over 65 percent from the field for one of its highest offensive outputs of the season as it took a 97-79 victory at Sacramento State (11-2, 3-1) on Saturday. Six Thunderbirds scored in double-figures in the contest, including senior guard Marissa Robbins who turned in a career-high 16 points in the win. The Big Sky leading Hornets came into the game ranked 32nd in the RPI and at No. 12 in the CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major Top 25 poll.
The Hornets put up the first four points of the game to jump out in front, but lay-ins from Lori Parkinson and Desiree Jackson evened things up before Carli Moreland dropped in back-to-back baskets to help the Thunderbirds double-up the score at 8-4.
Alle Moreno sank two quick threes to give the lead back to the home team which used its pressure defense to create a couple of SUU turnovers that resulted in two more threes for Andrea Chenier that increased the advantage to ten at 22-12.
Robbins got to the foul line with a hard drive, but the Hornets kept up the hot shooting as Gigi Hascheff and Takara Burse added two more from the outside. That capped a 9-1 run that took just over a minute off the clock and stretched the margin to 28-13 halfway through the opening period.
The T-Birds came back with an 8-3 run of their own behind five straight points from Parkinson to pull back within 31-24. Sacramento State protected its lead from the foul line in the closing minutes of the half however to hold a 42-35 edge at the break.
Southern Utah shot 63 percent from the field in the early going, but gave up 19 points on 12 turnovers. The Hornets went 7-17 from behind the arc to start the game and shot 13-17 at the foul line while holding the Thunderbirds to four makes on nine attempts. Both sides grabbed 17 rebounds in the first 20 minutes.
Marquelle Funk and Shanti Smith traded threes to open the second half before SUU dropped in four straight layups to cut the deficit to one. Parkinson then put back a score off an offensive rebound and a 10-0 run had the T-Birds back in front 48-47 less than four minutes in.
Hailey Mandelko connected on her second 3-pointer of the game and Jackson got a basket and a foul for another three point play to help the Thunderbirds go up by eight at 61-53 midway through the period.
SUU continued to add to the advantage as Robbins dropped in a layup to stretch the score to 77-64 with five minutes remaining. The lead grew to as many as 17 points in the closing minutes as the T-Birds outscored the Hornets 62-37 in the second half to come away with the 97-79 win.
Southern Utah held the Hornets to 56 field goal attempts, well below their season average of over 83 shots a game. Sacramento State was 36 percent from the field while the Thunderbirds posted a season-high shooting mark of 65.3 percent. SUU outrebounded its opponent by a count of 36-30 and recorded a 54-18 advantage on points in the paint.
Moreland finished just shy of a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Mandelko added another 14, Jackson and Parkinson each had 13 and Maylinn Smith had her highest total as a T-Bird with 10. Fantasia Hilliard let the home team with 13 while Sadie Clements turned in another 12.
The Thunderbirds are on the road again this Monday as they get set to visit Northern Arizona. The game is set to tip-off at 6:30 p.m. (MT) and will be broadcast on Fox Sports Arizona with complete coverage available online at www.suutbirds.com.
