CEDAR CITY, Utah - A new era of Southern Utah women's basketball opened with a bang Wednesday night as the Lady T-Birds opened the 2018-19 season with a 69-59 home victory over the University of San Diego.
"It was nice to finally get to play against someone else after practicing for so long. I know the girls were really looking forward to this game," head coach Tracy Sanders said. "San Diego is always a great team so coming in I just wanted the girls to feel prepared and be able to execute and I think they did a great job. Obviously there are some things we still need to work on, but they weathered the storm and were able to build on their lead and that's really all we can ask of them."
The Thunderbirds got off to a slow start in the first quarter as it took nearly four minutes for them to get on the board. However, the Toreros were just as slow in getting started as they didn't score for about three minutes of play. Hannah Robins scored the first points for SUU as she sunk a free throw to make it 2-1 USD. Both teams finally got into a rhythm and the Toreros held a 16-12 lead after one quarter.
The Thunderbirds turned up the pace in the second quarter shooting 8-15 from the field and outscoring the Toreros 19-13 and out-rebounding them 7-6. Rebecca Cardenas led all first half scorers with nine points, helping the T-Birds take a 31-29 lead into halftime.
Southern Utah didn't let up in the third quarter as they were able to keep pace with the Toreros' attack, outscoring them 15-13. Kiana Thomas hit a three-pointer off the bench in the final 10 seconds of the period to extend their lead to four points.
The fourth quarter is where the Thunderbirds really stepped on the gas, putting up 23 points in their strongest period of the game. Peyton Shepherd hit a three-pointer with 3:45 remaining in the game to extend the SUU lead to 13, giving them the room they needed to hold off the Toreros' final push.
USD was able to get back within eight before Breanu Reid sunk two free throws to make it the final score of 69-59.
Cardenas led the Thunderbirds with 18 points on the night. She also grabbed four rebounds and was 4-4 from the free throw line. Reid also hit double digits in scoring with 12 points and Harley Hansen had nine points and three rebounds in her Thunderbird debut.
San Diego's Patricia Brossmann led all scorers with 21 points.
The Thunderbirds will now hit the road for three straight games in California starting with UC Riverside on November 15.
Tickets
Tickets for the Lady T-Birds' next home game against BYU 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.
