MOSCOW, Idaho - The Southern Utah women's basketball team played their first Big Sky Conference game of the season Friday night, dropping a tight contest to the University of Idaho 64-68.
The Thunderbirds trailed by as much as 14 at one point, before launching a third quarter comeback in which they outscored the Vandals 18-9 to close the gap and even take the lead in the fourth. Idaho was able to hold off the T-Birds however and squeak out the victory.
Cherita Daugherty led all scorers in the game with 18 points. She also dished out four assists and pulled in nine rebounds. Liz Graves and Darri Frandsen both had double-doubles with Graves scoring 14 points and pulling down 15 rebounds and Frandsen scoring 12 and pulling down 14.
As a team, the Thunderbirds outrebounded the Vandals 66-37, including 26 offensive rebounds. Their 66 rebounds are tied for third most all-time by a Southern Utah team in a single game.
The T-Birds held their own in the first quarter, even leading by three early on. Two made free throws from Daylani Ballena had them down by just two points at the end of the first ten minutes.
The Vandals then opened the second quarter with a 9-0 run to make it 27-16 with 5:44 remaining in the first half. They would go on to shoot 50 percent from the floor in the quarter while holding the Thunderbirds to just 29.4 percent. Idaho would go into halftime with a 39-27 lead.
The Thunderbirds would return the favor in the third quarter, as they opened with a 15-4 run to cut the Idaho lead all the way down to just one. Graves, who scored just three points in the first half, scored seven points during that time and was the spark Southern Utah was looking for. The Vandals were able to stem the bleeding with a little run of their own, but the Thunderbirds continued to pile it on, putting together a 10-1 run that lasted into the fourth quarter. The run was capped by a three-pointer from Frandsen that gave SUU a 52-49 lead with 6:41 to go.
The lead would change hands five more times over the next three minutes before the Vandals were able to put together a 8-2 run to get a hold on the lead. With just 15 seconds left to go, Ballena laid one in and knocked down the ensuing free throw to make it 64-66 Idaho, but that would be the last time the T-Birds would score as the Vandals took home the 64-69 win.
The Thunderbirds and the Vandals will play the second game in the series tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. Pacific time).
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