CEDAR CITY, Utah – Riding back-to-back wins over SAGU and UTRGV, the Southern Utah University women's basketball team will open Big Sky Conference play Thursday night when it welcomes Eastern Washington to the America First Event Center.
GAME INFO
Southern Utah vs Eastern Washington
Date: December 2, 2021
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 (PDF) | Game Program
ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON (1-3, 0-0 Big Sky)
-Eastern Washington enters Thursday's contest with an overall record of 1-3. The Eagles lost three straight to open the season before winning their most recent game against Evergreen by a score of 101-38.
-Joddie Gleason is in her first season as the head coach for EWU. She came to the Eagles by way of Seattle U as the associate head coach. She also spent 12 years as the head coach at Humboldt State University.
-Jaydia Martin leads EWU in scoring with an average of 17.8 points per game. Jacinta Buckley follows Martin by contributing an average of 12.3 points per contest.
-Eastern Washington is located in Cheney, Washington.
LAST TIME OUT
After trailing at halftime by a score of 36-33, the Southern Utah University women's basketball team went on to outscore UTRGV 47-31 in the second half on the way to earning an 80-67 victory Saturday afternoon at UTRGV Fieldhouse.
The victory was Southern Utah's second straight and improved its record to 2-4 overall on the season. The Vaqueros dropped to 1-4 on the year with the loss.
Lizzy Williamson continued her impressive run of performances over the last four games with another double-double. The Australian led the team in both points and rebounds with 20 and 12, respectively. Samantha Johnston and Darri Dotson each joined Williamson in double-figure scoring with 12 and 11 apiece. Dotson finished with eight rebounds, just two shy of her own double-double. Daylani Ballena efficiently ran the offense for the Thunderbirds on the day by scoring nine points and dishing out six assists.
After a fairly even first half, the T-Birds came out of the halftime break firing on all cylinders. The third quarter opened with SUU ripping off an 8-0 run, led by two baskets from Cherita Daugherty. Moments later, Southern Utah broke the game open with a 13-0 run to take an 11-point lead. Ballena dropped in a layup before Johnston connected from 3-point range three times in a row. Alexa Lord then made a driving layup of her own to cap the run.
The Vaqueros would not go down without a fight as they worked to trim the lead down to just two points with six minutes to go in the game. SUU was able to weather the storm, though, and closed the game on a 10-2 run to secure the victory.
NOTES AND QUOTES
-Southern Utah owns a record of 3-1 against Eastern Washington under head coach Tracy Sanders.
-The Thunderbirds and Eagles last met in February of 2020 when Southern Utah visited Cheney and narrowly came away with a 70-67 victory. Last season's games between Eastern Washington and SUU were canceled due to issues with COVID-19.
-Thursday's matchup will serve as the Big Sky Conference opener for both schools. Southern Utah is 1-2 in conference openers under coach Sanders.
-The T-Birds have two players averaging double-figures in scoring with Lizzy Williamson and Madelyn Eaton. Williamson is scoring 13.7 points per night while Eaton has averaged 11.7 per contest.
-Williamson leads Southern Utah in rebounding with 8.8 boards per game. That mark is fourth best in the Big Sky Conference. Williamson also leads the league in field goal percentage on a .673 clip.
-Against UTRGV, Sam Johnston knocked down four shots from 3-point range. It was the second time this season Johnston has hit four threes in a game, including Southern Utah's matchup at UNLV in November.
"I'm really proud of our performance today. It was a true team win on both ends of the court. We put each other in great positions to score with 24 assists on 30 shots. UTRGV made some runs, but I was really impressed with our ability to slow those runs and shift momentum."
-Head Coach Tracy Sanders after earning a road win at UTRGV
"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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