CEDAR CITY, Utah – Southern Utah placed four players in double-digits to clench a 74-69 win over Montana State. Ashleigh Munns shot 6-12 from beyond the arch to lead the Thunderbirds to their victory.
The Bobcats crept within two points with just over a minute remaining in the game before Southern Utah nailed four clutch free throws to seal the Big Sky victory.
“All credit goes to my teammates. They're the one that got me open,” Munns commented. “There is a lot of talent on our team. From the starters to the bench, everyone brings their own unique skill. We have people that can do different things and that makes us a difficult team to guard.”
Desiree Jackson opened the matchup with a steal before finishing a fast break to give Southern Utah the first points of the game. Brenna Gates knocked in a layup before Montana State rallied to pass up the Thunderbirds, 7-4. SUU took a six-point run to snag a three-point lead with just under 12 minutes remaining in the half.
Iva Georgieva nailed a three as the Bobcats battled back to tie the game at 13 and 15. Montana State broke ahead before a three-pointer and a drive from Georgieva tied the game at 20. Back-to-back Thunderbird layups from Marquelle Funk and Gates, followed by a trey from Munns gave SUU a three-point lead with two minutes remaining in the first half.
Both teams tied at 31 with a minute to play before Munns knocked in a trey with 21 second and Georgieva finished a fast break to enter halftime with a five-point Southern Utah lead, 36-31.
Georgieva led the Thunderbirds in the first half with 12 points as Gates and Munns each added six. Funk led SUU in assists with two as the Thunderbirds shot 39.5% from the field in the opening half.
“We learned a big lesson after losing to Weber. Tonight we said we would play like a team,” Georgieva said. “We executed pretty well and we kept them from rebounding.”
A layup from Jessica Richardson followed by a three from Munns gave the Thunderbirds a 10-point lead just over a minute into the second half. The Bobcats quickly cut SUU's lead to five before a two-straight Munns three-pointers extended the Thunderbirds lead to 11.
Southern Utah held a seven-point advantage with just under 10 minutes to play and just a five-point lead with eight minutes to play. The Thunderbirds held to their comfortable lead before the Bobcats fired in response to tighten Southern Utah's lead to three with six and a half minutes remaining.
A sixth three-pointer from Munns and a layup from Georgieva handed Southern Utah an eight-point lead before the Bobcats crept within three. Jackson finished a drive to extend SUU's lead to five with under two minutes to play.
Montana State battled from behind to trail SUU just 68-66 with 1:12 to play. Jackson responded with a long jumper to push the T-Birds ahead by four before a Bobcat three-pointer made it a one-point game. The Bobcats were forced to foul, putting Jackson, a .81% free-throw shooter, on the line. Jackson drained both. Funk drained a pair of free throws with five seconds to play, wrapping up the game with a 74-69 Thunderbird win.
“We had a great week of practice and we said we have to play for 40 minutes. We controlled the tempo to our liking and we were able to make plays that changed our energy on both the offensive end and the defensive end,” head coach Chris Boettcher said. “It was a good turn around.”
Munns led the Thunderbirds with 18 points as Georgieva added 16, four assists and three steals. Southern Utah shot 38.6% from the field and 32% from the three-point line. The T-Birds knocked in 12 of their 14 free throws.
Southern Utah hosts Montana on Jan. 24 in the Centrum Arena at 7 p.m.
