CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Southern Utah women's basketball team picked up their third win of the season Tuesday night with a 72-68 overtime victory over the UNLV Lady Rebels.
Rebecca Cardenas led the Thunderbirds in scoring for the fourth straight game, setting a new career-high of 25 points. She also set new season-highs in rebounding with eight and steals with four. Harley Hansen put up 12 points and Shalyn Fano had 11 for the second-straight game. Claudia Armato set a new career-high in assists with seven.
As a team, the T-Birds shot just 35.1 percent from the field, but forced UNLV into 26 turnovers and outscored them on second-chance baskets 24-9.
Southern Utah led pretty much the entire game, jumping out to a quick 8-0 lead and not looking back. They held the Lady Rebels to just seven points in the first quarter while scoring 14 of their own behind five from Ashley Larsen.
The second quarter was pretty even on both sides, with both teams knocking down five buckets. The T-Birds outscored UNLV 13-11 to build their lead to 27-18 at the break.
UNLV committed 18 turnovers in the first half and shot just 27.6 percent from the field. Cardenas had 11 points to lead all scorers in the first 20 minutes.
The Rebels nearly doubled their point total in the third quarter, but the T-Birds were able to keep pace by shooting 47 percent in the quarter. Fano went 3-for-3 and scored seven of her 11 points in the period. SUU outscored UNLV 22-17 to build up to a 14-point lead.
Things took a sharp turn for the Thunderbirds in the fourth quarter however. After they built their lead up to 17 with 5:26 left to go in the game, they went through a scoring drought that lasted nearly five minutes. During that time, the Lady Rebels went on a 15-0 run and closed the gap to just two points. They tied the game at 59-59 on a three-point shot from Latecia Smith with just two seconds remaining in regulation.
The T-Birds scored the first four points in overtime and never relinquished their lead, outscoring UNLV 13-9 to take home the 72-68 win.
The Thunderbirds will have a quick turnaround this week as they travel to Corvallis, Oregon to take on the No.7 Oregon State Beaver on Thursday, November 21 at noon.
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Stay up to date during the 2019-20 Lady T-Bird Basketball season by following @SUUWBasketball on Twitter and Instagram and liking the Southern Utah Women's Basketball page on Facebook.
Tickets
Tickets for the Lady T-Birds' next home game on December 3 against Oral Roberts 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 2019-20 regular season home games.
