CEDAR CITY, Utah – Senior guard Cherita Daugherty led all scorers with 18 points, including a 14-of-14 mark from the free-throw line to guide the Southern Utah University women's basketball team to a 60-46 win over Eastern Washington Thursday night at the America First Event Center in the team's Big Sky Conference opener.
The win was Southern Utah's third straight and improved the Thunderbirds to 3-4 overall on the season and 1-0 in Big Sky Conference play. Eastern Washington dropped to 1-4 on the year and 0-1 in league play with the loss.
"That game was a great learning experience for us," said SUU head coach Tracy Sanders. "Obviously we're not super happy with the third quarter, but it got to a four-point game and I'm really happy with how we responded. We came together during a time out and after that turned a corner. I thought Cherita did a great job of making things happen and got to the free-throw line when we were struggling to score, and obviously free throws down the stretch made the difference for us. It was a great game, a great learning experience, and it was great to get the first conference win under our belt."
Neither team shot the ball particularly well from the field on the night as the T-Birds hit 26.9 percent of their shots while EWU only managed a 28.8 percent clip. The difference on the night was free-throw shooting with SUU hitting 26-of-31 attempts from the charity stripe compared to a 10-of-19 mark for the Eagles. Daugherty dropped in her 14 free throws and was aided by Madelyn Eaton who went 5-of-6 from the line.
In addition to Daugherty, Eaton and true freshman Aishah Anis were SUU's double-figure scorers. Eaton and Anis both finished the night with 11 points, with Anis nailing three 3-pointers. The Thunderbirds also got a huge lift from Lizzy Williamson and Darri Dotson in the rebounding category as the two combined for 22 boards with Williamson bringing down 13 and Dotson 9.
SUU played suffocating defense in the first half to earn a big lead as the Thunderbirds allowed the Eagles to score just 15 points through two quarters, and went into the locker room with a 15-point lead at halftime. The script flipped in the third quarter, though, as Eastern Washington held Southern Utah to just six points in the quarter to close the gap to eight. A 16-2 run helped EWU close the gap to just four points in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, but an 8-0 run in response gave the Thunderbirds the breathing room they needed to pull away and secure the victory.
Southern Utah faces a quick turnaround as the T-Birds welcome Idaho to Cedar City for another conference game Saturday afternoon. The Thunderbirds and Vandals will tip-off at 2:00 p.m. MT. The game can be viewed on ESPN+ and heard on 91.1 FM.
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