CEDAR CITY, Utah – The Southern Utah University women's basketball team will welcome Southwestern Assemblies of God American Indian College to the America First Event Center for a Monday night matchup before celebrating Thanksgiving.

GAME INFO

Southern Utah vs SAGU

Date: November 22

Tip-off: 6:30 p.m. MT

Location: Cedar City, Utah

Venue: America First Event Center

TV: ESPN+

Live Stream | Live Stats | Tickets | Southern Utah Notes

ABOUT SAGU (0-1)

-Southwestern Assemblies of God American Indian College enters Monday's Pre-Thanksgiving contest with a record of 0-1 so far this season.

-The Warriors compete in the National Christian College Athletic Association and are located in Phoenix, Arizona.

-SAGU is led by head coach Tylon Wilson.

-The Warriors' leading scorer is Deidre Roberts who averages 19 points per game to date. Christin Bahe follows Roberts with seven points per contest.

LAST TIME OUT

UNLV shot 57.8 percent from the field including an 8-of-17 clip from 3-point range as the Rebels went on to defeat the Southern Utah University women's basketball team, 92-59, Saturday afternoon at Cox Pavilion.

The Thunderbirds dropped to 0-4 on the season with the loss while UNLV improved its record to 2-2.

The Rebels quickly jumped out to a 6-0 lead with back-to-back threes to open the game, and never looked back as the lead continued to build and was never surrendered. UNLV was paced by Nneka Obiazor who led the way with a game-high 21 points in 21 minutes.

One bright spot for Southern Utah was the shooting of sophomore Samantha Johnston, who connected on 4-of-6 attempts from beyond the arc and finished the game as the T-Birds' leading scorer with 14 points. Lizzy Williamson was the other Thunderbird in double figures as she dropped in 11 points and finished the game just two rebounds shy of a double-double.

NOTES AND QUOTES

-Southwestern Assemblies of God American Indian College represents the first non-NCAA opponent that Southern Utah will face throughout the 2021-22 season. The Thunderbirds will also host Life Pacific of the NAIA on December 9th.

-The last time SUU faced a non-NCAA opponent was December of 2020 when the T-Birds defeated William Jessup University by a score of 74-46.

-At 0-4, Southern Utah is looking to avoid its first 0-5 start since the 2015-16 season. The Thunderbirds finished that season with an overall record of 6-24.

-Madelyn Eaton leads the Thunderbirds with 13.0 points per game. That scoring average is 11th best in the Big Sky Conference.

-The emergence of Lizzy Williamson has been a big lift for the Thunderbirds this season. Williamson has set career highs in nearly every statistical category through four games.

-Samantha Johnston had a breakout performance in SUU's last game at UNLV. The sophomore hit a career best four threes which led to a career high in points with a total of 14.

"I think we ended the game playing pretty hard. I thought we made some great plays defensively and picked it up. Our second half was obviously a lot better than our first half. We struggled in the first half to defend. We gave up 21 points in the first quarter, and I think we put ourselves in a difficult spot. The second half was a lot better, but we've still got a lot of work to do."

-Head Coach Tracy Sanders after dropping the team's home opener to UVU

"The ladies have been hard at work and are so excited to take the floor this November. We have some great games in our preseason with several WAC opponents as well as Colorado here in Cedar City. The Big Sky Conference will be tough as usual with some talented new coaches in the league. We just can't wait to start the season."

-Sanders on the release of the 2021-22 schedule

"I am so proud to call Southern Utah University and Cedar City home. It has been an incredible three years and I'm so excited about the direction of our program. We have some extremely talented players that have bought into both the vision and the culture of Southern Utah women's basketball. I'd like to thank Athletic Director Debbie Corum and Deputy Athletic Director Sonia Hahn for their continued support of our program and the opportunity they have given me to continue doing what I love alongside an incredible staff here at Southern Utah University."

-Sanders on her contract extension

"We are thrilled that Tracy will be leading our program for years to come. The improvement her teams have shown each year since she joined the Thunderbird family has been evident. Her players have excelled both on the court and in the classroom, and we are confident in her ability to take the program to new heights in the coming years."

-Southern Utah Athletic Director Debbie Corum on Sanders' contract extension

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