CEDAR CITY, Utah - For the first time since 2014-15, the Southern Utah women's basketball team has won three Big Sky games in a row, picking up an 82-66 victory over Weber State Saturday afternoon. The Thunderbirds are now 15-10 with a 9-7 record in conference play. They will head into the final two weeks of the regular season tied with Montana (14-11, 9-7) for the fifth and final bye slot in the Big Sky Conference Championship Tournament.
Shalyn Fano picked up her second double-double of the season in the win, leading the T-Birds in both scoring a rebounding with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Darri Frandsen scored 17 and pulled in nine rebounds, Rebecca Cardenas had 15 points and six steals, Harley Hansen had 16 points, and Jessica Chatman pulled down 11 rebounds.
In what was probably their best rebounding effort so far this season, the Thunderbirds outrebounded the Wildcats 42-36 and had an unprecedented 24 offensive rebounds. They forced the Wildcats into 20 turnovers and had 29 second chance points.
The T-Birds came out hot, quickly jumping out to a 6-2 lead. Weber State was able to tie things up at 6-6, but after that it was all Thunderbirds. They closed the quarter on a 12-2 run and led 23-11 after one quarter.
Things cooled off quite a bit for Southern Utah in the second quarter as they shot just 21.7 percent and let the Wildcats climb all the way back within one point. A buzzer-beating three from Claudia Armato would give them a four-point cushion heading into halftime.
The halftime break proved to be the reset the T-Birds needed as they came out in the third and shot 50 percent from the field, outscoring the Wildcats 26-15, and extending their lead to 15. They had four blocks in the quarter and turned the ball over just once.
In the fourth quarter, the Thunderbirds were able to push their lead all the way to as much as 23 points with 3:35 to go. Weber State was able to put together a 7-0 run before falling to the Thunderbirds 82-66.
The Thunderbirds will head to the Pacific Northwest next week for their final road trip of the regular season with matchups against Eastern Washington and Idaho.
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 March 4 against Montana 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.
