CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Southern Utah women's basketball team stayed undefeated inside the America First Event Center Saturday afternoon with a 71-50 win over Eastern Washington. The Thunderbirds have now won nine games on the season, beating their total from last season and marking the most wins in a season since 2014-15.
"It was a huge team effort tonight. Everyone got to play tonight, which is always fun. They have worked so hard in practice and today they were able to get a great opportunity and they made the most of it," head coach Tracy Sanders said. "We had a small cushion heading into halftime and I thought we did a phenomenal job of expanding on that in the third quarter. We love playing at home and to be undefeated this far into the season is pretty special."
Rebecca Cardenas picked up the 245th steal of her career in the win, making her the Southern Utah all-time career leader in the category.
Harley Hansen led all scorers with 21 points (7-for-11) in the victory. Rebecca Black set a new career-high with 10 points and Cardenas dished out seven assists. As a team, the Thunderbirds outshot the Eagles 45.8 percent to 35.8 percent. They also scored 26 points off the bench and 16 off turnovers.
After a slow start, the Thunderbirds got hot in the second and third quarters, shooting 50 percent in the second and 61.1 percent in the third. With about seven minutes to go in the second quarter and trailing by one, the T-Birds put together an 11-0 run that would allow them to take the lead and never look back. They led 29-24 at halftime.
Southern Utah built on that lead in the third, outscoring the Eagles 26-12, while holding them to just 30.8 percent shooting. Hansen scored eight of her 21 points in the quarter and Shalyn Fano pulled down four rebounds.
They kept the momentum going in the fourth quarter and wrapped up the 71-50 victory.
The Thunderbirds will look to keep their undefeated streak alive on Monday against Idaho at 6:30 p.m.
Follow Us
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 January 27 against Idaho 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.
