Box Score Albuquerque, New Mexico - The SUU women's basketball team wrapped up play at the New Mexico Thanksgiving Tournament on Saturday in The Pit, falling to North Carolina A&T 78–65.
“The most exciting thing is that they continue to battle and fight,” SUU head coach Chris Boettcher said about the game. “No matter what the circumstance they're still just battling and they come back. Today was a rough first half and they got a little bit nervous and made some mistakes but they came back in the second half and fought and fought.”
The first quarter was a tight one, as both teams went on big runs but evened out eventually to be within two points of each other after the first quarter, with the Aggies leading by two.
The two squads remained close through the second quarter, with NCA&T holding a three point lead after 20 minutes of basketball.
The Thunderbirds went cold from the field in the third quarter, allowing the Aggies to gain a sizeable lead and take a 56–46 lead into the fourth quarter.
NCA&T went on a big run to start the fourth quarter, and despite a late push by the Thunderbirds the Aggies were able to hold on with a 78–65 victory.
Ashleigh Munns had another big game for the Thunderbirds, finishing with 24 points hitting seven shots from behind the three-point line. Jessica Richardson had a double-double for the T-Birds with 13 points and a team high 10 rebounds.
“Our confidence as a coaching staff and her confidence as a player in taking over some of the leadership and telling her that we need her step up a little bit has been a factor,” he said. “When the younger kids are going to be inconsistent we need more consistency from her, so she knows we're calling set plays for her to come off and shoot and she's got some great teammates that are setting great screens for her so she's just playing aggressive and confident and helping us on both ends of the court leadership wise and being able to hit some shots.”
The T-Birds hit seven three-pointers as a team, all of which came from Munns.
Aprill McRae led the Aggies in scoring with 17, and Dana Brown had 15 points. Kala Green was the third Aggie to score in double-figures with 13 points, and led the team in rebounding with seven.
The T-Birds will next be at home for an afternoon matchup on Tuesday with Cal State Northridge. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. and tickets can be purchased online at tbirdtickets.com or at the Centrum Ticket Office. Attendance to all home SUU sporting events is free of charge for current SUU students.
