CEDAR CITY, Utah – In her return to Cedar City, former Southern Utah head coach JR Payne and her No. 25 Colorado Buffaloes defeated the Southern Utah University women's basketball team, 81-47, Tuesday night at the America First Event Center.

With the loss, the Thunderbirds saw their four-game winning streak snapped and fell to 4-5 overall. Colorado won its ninth-consecutive contest and now sits at a perfect 9-0.

"Colorado is a great team," said SUU head coach Tracy Sanders. "It was fun to have them and JR here. We struggled right away with their pressure on the defensive side, and they made everything difficult for us tonight. There is a lot of stuff we can watch on film and hopefully learn from and get better."

SUU and CU went back and forth for a few possessions to open the game, but the Buffaloes' defense quickly turned up the pressure and helped Colorado build a large lead. CU continued to pressure the Thunderbirds on defense, and forced Southern Utah into 26 turnovers on the night.

Despite the tough defense, Darri Dotson performed well for the T-Birds with a team-high 16 points to go with five rebounds, two assists and three blocks. Lizzy Williamson led SUU in rebounding with eight and also dropped in six points. Cherita Daugherty and Samantha Johnston also added six points apiece.

The Thunderbirds will be back in action quickly as they prepare to face Life Pacific on Thursday, December 9. Tip-off is at noon and the game can be viewed on ESPN+ and heard on Thunder 91.1 FM.

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