CEDAR CITY, Utah – After a brief break for three nonconference games, the Southern Utah University women's basketball team returns to its Big Sky Conference slate Thursday when it travels to Sacramento State.
GAME INFO
Southern Utah at Sacramento State
Date: December 30, 2021
Tip-Off: 8:00 p.m. MT
Location: Sacramento, Calif.
Venue: The Nest
TV: ESPN+
Watch | Live Stats
NOTES
-Southern Utah enters Thursday's contest off a big rivalry win over Dixie State. Cherita Daugherty set a new career high with 28 points.
-The Thunderbirds are 1-5 against Sacramento State under head coach Tracy Sanders. The last meeting between the two schools saw the Hornets come out on top via a 73-66 decision.
- A win Thursday would build on SUU's best start to conference play under Sanders. SUU is 2-0 in the Big Sky for the first time in Sanders' tenure.
ABOUT SACRAMENTO STATE (4-7, 0-2 Big Sky)
-The Hornets enter Thursday's contest looking for their first conference victory after falling to Montana and Montana State to open the year.
-Lianna Tillman leads Sac State with an average of 18.3 points per game. Summeer Menke, Isnelle Natabou and Katie, Peneueta all join Tillman in averaging double figures.
-Mark Campbell is in his first season as head coach of the Hornets.
LAST TIME OUT
After 12 days since their last contest, the Southern Utah University women's basketball team closed out non-conference play with a dismantling 95-58 win over Southern Utah rival and future WAC foe, the Dixie State Trailblazers, Tuesday evening.
Senior Cherita Daugherty led the Thunderbirds offensively, setting a new career with 28 points while shooting 4-5 from downtown. She also grabbed nine rebounds with three assists. Center Lizzy Williamson continued to be a menace down low, scoring 20 points with six rebounds and two blocks. Daylani Ballena and Darri Dotson also racked up 11 points of their own.
As a team, the Thunderbirds shot 54.5% from the field while holding the Trailblazers to just 33.3% from the floor. SUU outrebounded Dixie 43 to 33 while also dominating in the paint scoring 50 points compared to the Trailblazers 32.
SUU started the game off strong, going on a fast 5-0 run after buckets from Dotson and Williamson. Dixie State quickly found a response to the Thunderbirds surge and went on a run of their own to take their first lead of the ball game 9-8.
The T-Birds immediately took back control of the game after Daugherty hit two straight three-pointers, extending their lead to 20-14 to end the first quarter.
Coming out of the quarter, the Trailblazers kept fighting and battled back to tie the game at 20-20, but SUU continued to answer back. They got into a rhythm and began to assert their dominance as Williamson and Daugherty combined for a total of 33 first-half points, giving them a 43-34 lead at the half.
SUU extended their lead even further out of the half. They broke things open in the third when Daylani Ballena began to heat up. Ballena scored seven second-half points and doubled their lead, pushing the game out of the Trailblazer's reach.
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