CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Southern Utah women's basketball team opened their 2019-2020 season Friday evening with a 104-59 win over Ottawa University Arizona in an exhibition game.

Rebecca Cardenas led all scorers with 20 points in the win. She also had four assists and went two-for-four from behind the arc. Harley Hansen followed with 14 points. The senior led the team in assists with five, steals with four, and went six-for-six from the free throw line. Darri Frandsen and Ashley Larsen both led the team in rebounding with seven each.

Southern Utah got off to a slow start in the game getting down by a much as five as the Spirit outscored them 9-4 over the first three minutes of play. Hansen helped the Thunderbirds close the gap and take the lead, scoring 10 points in the next three minutes as SUU took a 21-12 lead. They pushed that lead to 29-18 by the end of the opening quarter.

The second quarter was the closest quarter of the game, as the Lady T-Birds only outscored the Spirit by six. Cardenas knocked down both of her threes in the quarter and scored a total of 12 points. The T-Birds pushed their lead to 17 points by the end of the half on a jumper by Shalyn Fano with four seconds left.

The second half was huge for the Thunderbirds as they continued to push their lead, outscoring the Spirit 48-20. They opened the fourth quarter with a 20-0 run that lasted over seven minutes. They ended up blowing out the Spirit by 45 for the win.

The Thunderbirds will open the regular season next Thursday November 7 against CSU Fullerton inside the America First Event Center.

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