CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Southern Utah women's basketball team fell in a rematch with the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks Monday night 69-78.
"That last stretch where we made a push after being down 20, we had great intensity and they did a good job of executing coming out of the timeouts, but we needed that intensity for 30-35 minutes," head coach Tracy Sanders said. "Getting to the free throw line and making our free throws was definitely a positive and we did a good job offensive rebounding in the second half."
The 'Jacks got off to a hot start outscoring the Thunderbirds 23-13 in the opening quarter. They shot 11-for-18 from the floor while holding SUU to just 3-for-16. The T-Birds used a 6-for-6 mark from the free throw line to stay within 10 points.
NAU shot a whopping 51.4 percent from the field in the first half, making twice as many buckets as the Thunderbirds. They took a 39-29 lead into halftime.
The Thunderbirds put together a thrilling fourth-quarter comeback attempt, cutting the Lumberjack lead to as little as six after trailing by 20 with 7:48 to play, but NAU was able to hang on for the nine-point win. Rebecca Cardenas scored 13 points in the fourth quarter. She also pulled in seven rebounds and was 3-for-4 from the free throw line.
"This is a rough week with three games, but we have to focus on getting better every day and learning from our mistakes," Sanders said.
Cardenas led all scorers with 21 points and finished with nine rebounds, 5-for-6 from the free throw line, and 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. Harley Hansen finished with 18 points and Peyton Shepherd had a career-high 14 points on four threes.
The T-Birds will be back in action on Thursday January 31 as they host Eastern Washington.
Tickets
Tickets for the Lady T-Birds' next home game on January 31 against Eastern Washington 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.
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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.
