CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Southern Utah women's basketball team earned a huge win Tuesday night, as they took down the BYU Cougars 67-64 inside of the America First Event Center.
"I'm super proud of the girls. I think they played really hard. To be down at halftime and come out in the second half the way they did was phenomenal," head coach Tracy Sanders said. "We talked about defense and rebounding, things that are staples for us to win games, and they did a great job of executing to start the second half and get us back in the game."
The T-Birds got on the board first as Breanu Reid made a layup on Southern Utah's first possession of the game to go up 2-0. The Thunderbirds were able to force five BYU turnovers in the first five minutes of the game and maintain their lead through the first media timeout. The Cougars took the lead with 3:39 remaining in the quarter, but never led by more than five, finishing the quarter with a 17-12 lead.
The Thunderbirds opened the second quarter with a 8-2 run, taking a 20-19 lead with 6:58 remaining in the half on a Reid three-pointer. The Cougars then went on a big 12-2 run to take a commanding 31-22 lead. They would finish out the opening half with a 35-24 lead.
Reid was 6-for-12 from the field and had 13 points in the first half. Rebecca Cardenas had four rebounds and two assists in the opening 20 minutes.
After an exchanging of buckets to open the third quarter, the Thunderbirds got hot. They went on an 11-0 run to take a 38-37 lead with 5:10 to go in the quarter.
Southern Utah was able to push the run to 16-2 while holding the Cougars to 0-for-9 from the field. By the end of the third quarter, the Lady T-Birds had outscored BYU 23-9 and stormed back from an 11-point deficit to take a 47-44 lead into the final quarter.
Southern Utah continued to pour it on as the fourth quarter started, taking a 10 point lead with 6:16 to go on Harley Hansen's fourth three-point basket of the game. The Cougars then began to turn things around with a run of their own. They scored 12 points in four minutes to tie the game at 61-61 with 2:12 remaining.
A clutch steal by Cardenas and free throw by Hansen put SUU up 62-61, but a BYU three from Paisley Johnson with 37 seconds left made it 64-62 BYU. After a Southern Utah timeout, Cardenas hit a three-point shot of her own to put the Thunderbirds back up 65-64 with 21 seconds to go.
After timeouts on both sides, Reid was able to draw an unsportsmanlike foul on BYU, earning the Thunderbirds two free throws. Cardenas was able to sink both and the T-Birds completed the comeback, taking the 67-64 victory.
Hansen was the leading scorer for the Thunderbirds, leading all scorers with a career-high 18 points. She also led all rebounders with eight, shot 50 percent from behind the arc, and had three steals. Three other Thunderbirds finished in double-digit points as Reid had 15, Cardenas had 12, and Ashley Larsen had 11. Cardenas had seven assists while Larsen finished with three blocks.
The win moves the Lady T-Birds to 2-0 at home and 2-0 against West Coast Conference teams with their season opening home win over the University of San Diego.
The Thunderbirds will be back on the road this weekend to take on Oral Roberts University on Saturday December 1 in Oklahoma. Tip off is set for 1:00 p.m. Mountain time.
Tickets
Tickets for the Lady T-Birds' next home on December 4 against Utah Valley are available at tbirdtickets.com or the America First Event Center Ticket Office. Fans can also purchase a Women's Sports Pass for access to all 2018-19 home games.
Follow Us
Stay up to date during the 2018-19 Lady T-Bird Basketball season by following @SUUWBasketball on Twitter and Instagram and liking the Southern Utah Women's Basketball page on Facebook.
