CEDAR CITY, Utah – The Southern Utah University women's basketball team opens its season Tuesday night when it heads to California to take on Big West Conference foe Cal State Fullerton.
GAME INFO
Southern Utah at Cal State Fullerton
Date: November 9
Tip-off: 8:00 p.m. MT
Location: Fullerton, Calif.
Venue: Titan Gym
TV: ESPN+
Live Stream | Live Stats | Southern Utah Notes
ABOUT CAL STATE FULLERTON
-Cal State Fullerton finished the 2020-21 campaign with an overall record of 4-18 and Big West Conference record of 2-14.
-The Titans are led by head coach Jeff Harada, who has been at the school since 2017. Harada owns a record of 43-69 at Fullerton, and a record of 145-159 as a head coach.
-Cal State Fullerton was picked to finish 10th in this season's Big West Conference preseason poll.
-Tuesday's matchup will also serve as CSF's season opener for the 2021-22 campaign. After facing the Thunderbirds, the Titans will travel to the state of Utah to take on Utah State.
LAST TIME OUT
The Southern Utah women's basketball team saw their 2020-21 season come to a close in the Quarterfinals of the Big Sky Conference Championship Tournament. They lost to the fourth-seeded Northern Colorado Bears 59-63 inside Idaho Central Arena.
The Lady T-Birds will wrap up their season with an 11-9 overall record and finish 6-5 in Big Sky play.
Liz Graves was the leading scorer for the Thunderbirds in the loss with 19 points. She also pulled down 10 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season. Darri Frandsen, Madelyn Eaton, and Cherita Daugherty all scored in double-digits as Frandsen and Eaton had 13 and Daugherty had 12.
Eaton had the first four points for the T-Birds, but the Bears were able to build up a 9-4 lead by the 3:25 mark. The Thunderbirds hadn't scored in 2:00+, but quickly turned that drought into a lead by scoring the next nine points. They led 13-11 after the end of one quarter.
Northern Colorado opened the second quarter on a 6-0 scoring run that set the pace for the next 10 minutes of play. They led by five at the media timeout and ended up outscoring the Thunderbirds 16-9 in the quarter. The T-Birds would go into the break down 22-27.
The Thunderbirds came out in the third quarter and went on a 12-5 run to take the lead back with 3:43 to play. They went on a 10-0 run during that time while the Bears went 0-for-7 from the floor. Southern Utah would go on to outscore the Bears 21-15 in the quarter and take a 43-42 lead into the final quarter of play.
Northern Colorado opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back three-pointers to swing the momentum back in their favor. They held a seven-point lead when the Thunderbirds went on a 6-0 scoring run to make it 50-51. That would be as close as they would get however, as the Bears outscored them 12-9 down the stretch.
NOTES AND QUOTES
-Under head coach Tracy Sanders, Southern Utah is 2-1 in season openers. In Sanders' first season, SUU took down San Diego, 69-59, to give Sanders her first career victory. In her second year, the T-Birds defeated Cal State Fullerton by a score of 79-63. A season ago, Southern Utah fell to Utah Valley in the first game of the 2020-21 campaign.
-Southern Utah is 1-6 in games played in the state of California since Sanders took over as head coach of the program.
-Southern Utah and Cal State Fullerton last met in 2019 when the Thunderbirds earned a 79-63 victory. Madelyn Eaton, Darri Dotson and Margarita Satini were the only current T-Birds to play in that contest. Eaton led the team with 20 points that night while Dotson chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds.
-SUU's last matchup with a team from the Big West Conference took place in 2019 when the Thunderbirds downed UC Riverside, 79-68, in Cedar City. Southern Utah is 3-3 against teams from the Big West under Tracy Sanders. All three wins occurred in 2019 and all three losses took place in 2018.
-The Thunderbirds were picked to finish fourth in the Big Sky Conference preseason media poll, and sixth in the coaches poll.
"The Big Sky is a very talented conference and we're looking forward to some great competition. I'm proud of our team and the work we've been putting in to prepare for the upcoming season."
-Head Coach Tracy Sanders on the team being picked fourth and sixth in the Big Sky preseason polls
"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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