CEDAR CITY, Utah - After winning three of their last four games, the Southern Utah women's basketball team returns home this week to host Sacramento State on February 13 and Northern Arizona on February 15.

Last Time Out

For the first time since the 2014-15 season, the Thunderbirds won back-to-back conference road games last week, beating Northern Colorado 68-55 in overtime and Portland State 81-72.

In the win over the Bears, Rebecca Cardenas led all scorers with her 30 points and also pulled down nine rebounds and picked up six steals. She is the only player in the Big Sky with two 30+ performances so far this season. Shalyn Fano also hit double-digits with 10 points and Ashley Larsen also pulled down nine rebounds. As a team, the Thunderbirds forced the Bears into 21 turnovers and only turned the ball over seven times themselves. They also had 13 steals and held UNC to 0-for-16 from three-point range.

In the win over the Vikings, it was Ashley Larsen who led all scorers with 22 points (11-for-14 FG) and she pulled down five rebounds and picked up two steals. Rebecca Cardenas had 19 points, nine assists, six rebounds, and four steals. Three other Thunderbirds reached double-digit scoring figures as Darri Frandsen scored 13, Jessica Chatman scored 10, and Harley Hansen scored 10. Frandsen also led the T-Birds in rebounding with nine.

State of the Big Sky

Montana State continues to dominate the Big Sky standings, picking up two more wins last week to move to 11-1. They are followed by Northern Arizona at 9-4, Idaho at 8-4, and Montana and Idaho State at 8-5.

The Thunderbirds moved up two spots in the standings with their two wins last week and currently sit in sixth place with a record of 6-6. Portland State is also 6-6 and Northern Colorado is now 5-6.

Southern Utah has the third-best scoring offense, averaging 71.2 points per game and has the fourth-best field goal percentage of any team in the Big Sky (.412).

Player of the Week (x3)

For the third time this season, the Big Sky Conference named Rebecca Cardenas the Big Sky Women's Basketball Player of the Week for her performances against Northern Colorado and Portland State.

The senior is the first Thunderbird to ever win the award three times in a season since Southern Utah joined the Big Sky in 2012.

Cardenas scored a combined 49 points and shot .513 (20-for-39) from the field. She also picked up 10 steals, nine assists, and 15 rebounds.

Cardenas continues to lead the Big Sky in scoring, now averaging 17.7 points per game, with 372 total points on the season. She also leads the conference in steals (2.6 spg), is third in assists (4.9 apg), and fifth in field goal percentage (.422). She is ranked 29th in the entire NCAA in steals per game, 47th in assists per game, and 49th in points per game.

Scouting Report: Sacramento State Hornets (7-15, 5-8 BSC)

Since beating the Thunderbirds 87-82 back in January in Sacramento, the Hornets have gone 3-3 over their last six games, picking up wins over Portland State, Weber State, and Eastern Washington.

Senior Kennedy Nicholas leads the team in scoring (14.2 ppg) and rebounding (8.9 rpg). Her 8.9 rebounds per game is also tops in the Big Sky and she holds the second-highest field goal percentage in the conference (.498).

The Hornets have won the last 10 contests against the Thunderbirds with SUU's last win coming in the 2014 Big Sky Championship Tournament.

Scouting Report: Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (12-10, 9-4 BSC)

The Lumberjacks have won four of their last five games, with their only loss during that time coming against Idaho State last week.

Junior Khiarica Rasheed leads the team and is second in the Big Sky in scoring, averaging 16 points per game. She also leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.8 per game. Redshirt junior Caitlin Malvar has the only triple-double in the Big Sky this season, posting 17 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists in double overtime against Sacramento State.

NAU has won the last two matchups, taking home the win in the first game this season 84-76

Game Info

Thursday's game against the Hornets is set to tip off at 6:30 p.m. inside the America First Event Center. The game can be streamed live on PlutoTV channel 536 and live stats will be available at tbirdstats.com. This game will be a Pink Out game for the T-Birds as they honor Breast Cancer Survivors.

Saturday's game against the Lumberjacks is set to tip off at 2:00 p.m. inside the America First Event Center. The game can be streamed live on PlutoTV channel 536 and live stats will be available at tbirdstats.com. 

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 February 13 against Sacramento State 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.