PORTLAND, Ore. - For the first time since the 2014-15 season, the Southern Utah women's basketball team won back-to-back conference road games with their 81-72 win over Portland State Saturday afternoon.
The win moved the Thunderbirds to 12-9 on the season and 6-6 in Big Sky play. Their six conference wins are the most since 2014-15 when they finished 6-12. This win was also Tracy Sanders' 20th win as head coach of the T-Birds.
Ashley Larsen 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. She moved into a tie for eighth all-time on the Southern Utah's career points list with 1,118 points in her career.
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.
As a team, the Thunderbirds shot 50.7 percent from the field and outrebounded the Vikings 40-29.
Southern Utah held a lead for 33:54, nearly 85 percent of the game, after a 7-0 run over the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second quarter made it 24-17 SUU. The Vikings were able to cut the lead to just two at one point, but the Thunderbirds continued to find the basket and with 3:02 left in the third quarter they had built up a 14-point lead.
The T-Birds held off the Viking attack in the fourth, shooting 60 percent from the field in the quarter to maintain their lead and lock down the 81-72 victory.
The Thunderbirds will be back in the America First Event Center next week as they host Sacramento State and Northern Arizona.
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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.
