MOSCOW, Idaho - The Southern Utah women's basketball team saw their five-game winning streak come to an end Saturday afternoon as they fell to the Idaho Vandals 70-57.
The Thunderbirds are now 16-11 on the season and 10-8 in Big Sky play.
Rebecca Cardenas led all scorers in the contest with 25 points, 14 of them coming in the third quarter. The senior also added five steals and eight rebounds. Jessica Chatman picked up her second double-double of the season with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
The T-Birds shot just 32.3 percent from the field, despite a third quarter in which they were 7-for-14.
The Vandals dominated the first half, outshooting the Thunderbirds 53.6 percent to 27.6 percent. Southern Utah scored just 19 points, turned the ball over 10 times, and found themselves down by 15 at halftime.
Idaho continued to pour it on in the third quarter, pushing their lead to 23 points with just under five minutes to play in the period. That was when things started to turn around for the Thunderbirds. Two made free throws from Claudia Armato kicked off a 16-0 run for the T-Birds in which Cardenas scored nine points and had four steals. She closed out the quarter with a buzzer beating three-pointer and just like that it was 49-44 and Southern Utah was within five.
Shalyn Fano opened the fourth quarter with a three of her own and cut the lead down to just two points. The Vandals were able to collect themselves and get the momentum back on their side however, and would end up leading 60-50 with 6:28 to go. The Thunderbirds would only be able to cut the lead down to seven from that point on and go to lose the game 70-57.
The Thunderbirds will return home next week for the final week of the regular season, hosting Montana State and Montana.
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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 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.
