DENVER, Colo. - The Southern Utah women's basketball team dropped a road matchup against the Denver Pioneers Monday afternoon, 81-73.
Harley Hansen was the leading scorer for the Thunderbirds with 20 points. She also led the team in steals with four and blocks with two. Ashley Larsen was right behind her with 19 points and led the team in rebounding with nine. Shalyn Fano tied her career-high with 15 points and was 3-for-5 from the three-point line.
Denver's Lauren Loven led all scorers with 31 points.
The T-Birds got off to a blistering start in the first quarter, shooting 61 percent (11-for-18) from the floor, while holding the Pioneers to just 42 percent shooting. With 3:33 remaining in the quarter, they strung together a quick 5-0 run to jump out to a 12-point lead, the biggest of the day for either team. They would finish the opening quarter ahead 25-18.
Things drastically cooled off for the Thunderbirds in the second quarter however, as they scored just eight points on 3-for-10 shooting. They were able to hold onto their lead until the Pioneers put together a 10-1 run and took a 34-31 lead with 2:29 to go in the half. They would turn that into a 37-33 lead at the break.
Both teams played tightly contested third and fourth quarters, with the Pioneers never getting further than 10 points in the lead. Hansen closed out the third quarter with five straight points to cut the Denver lead to five with 10 minutes to play. Southern Utah would cut the lead down to four points a couple of times in the fourth quarter, but couldn't get any closer than that as both teams lit up the scoreboard with their highest scoring quarter of the game.
The Pioneers would come away with the 81-73 win.
The Thunderbirds will be back in action on December 19 when they host UC Riverside for their final non-conference matchup of the year.
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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 19 against UC Riverside 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.
