CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Southern Utah women's basketball team opened a two-game series with University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Sunday afternoon with a 80-73 win over the Vaqueros.
"Obviously we are excited to get another win at home and for the opportunity to play, but I don't think it was our best effort game. We pride ourselves on playing hard and playing tough, but I didn't think that was a great effort by us," head coach Tracy Sanders said. "There were some bright spots, some of the girls really came in and stepped up. I thought Dayla did a great job, Kinsley did a great job, and Bryar came in and gave us some quality minutes so it was nice to see that."
Liz Graves led all scorers with 33 points, one shy of her career-high. She was also the leading rebounder on the floor with 12. The senior had posted a double-double with 7:27 remaining in the third quarter. Daylani Ballena put up a career-high 14 points and was 4-for-5 from the three-point line. Cherita Daugherty had 13 points and five assists.
The Vaqueros came out shooting in this one, starting things off with a 9-0 run that included two three-pointers and another three-point play on a T-Bird shooting foul. Pyper Thornberry and Graves were able to stop the bleeding with back-to-back buckets and with that the Thunderbirds began chipping away at UTRGV's lead.
With 3:34 remaining in the quarter, a jumper from Megan Kamps tied things at 13-13 and two minutes later Ballena knocked down her first three of the game to give Southern Utah a three-point lead as they headed into the second quarter.
The two teams went back and forth for a bit as the second quarter started, but with things tied at 20-20, UTRGV went on a 10-2 run that put them up eight with 2:41 to go in the half. However, the Thunderbirds answered right back and closed the half out on a 9-0 run and would go into halftime with a 31-30 lead.
There were two lead changes and four ties in the third quarter as the T-Birds barely outscored the Vaqueros 14-13. Neither team led by more than four in the quarter and Southern Utah would go into the final quarter of play with a 45-43 lead.
The fourth quarter was an offensive explosion for both teams as the Vaqueros matched their total from the first half and the Thunderbirds outscored their first half total by four points in just one quarter. UTRGV tied the game up at 45-45 right out of the gate, but back-to-back buckets from Graves and Kinsley Barrington put the T-Birds on top for good. With 3:40 to go, they had built a 10-point lead and went 8-for-8 from the free throw line down the stretch to close out the 80-73 win.
The Thunderbirds and the Vaqueros will face-off again tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m.
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