CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Southern Utah women's basketball team will wrap up the regular season at home this week hosting Portland State on Wednesday March 3 and Friday March 5. The Thunderbirds control their own destiny when it comes to where they will be seeded in the Big Sky Conference Championship Tournament next week.
Last Time Out
The Thunderbirds split their two-game series with Northern Arizona last week, losing in Flagstaff 56-67 before winning in Cedar City 97-80.
In the win on Saturday, the Thunderbirds shot 65.0 percent (39-for-60) from the floor as a team, which is the second-best single-game field goal percentage in the history of the program. Their 97 points scored in the victory is the highest single-game total since February 25, 2017 when they scored 104 points against Sacramento State. It is also tied for the third-highest mark in the Big Sky this season so far.
Liz Graves scored a combined 33 points and pulled down 21 rebounds over the two games. Madelyn Eaton scored a combined 34 points, including a season-high 18 in the loss on Thursday.
State of the Big Sky
With just one week left before the conference tournament, the Thunderbirds find themselves in sixth place in the Big Sky standings with a chance to move up and claim a bye in the first round of the tournament.
If the Thunderbirds win both of their games against the Vikings, they will be locked in as the fourth seed in the tournament with a winning percentage of .636 (7-4).
If they split the series with PSU, they will end up with a winning percentage of .545 (6-5). If Montana loses their one game with Idaho, the T-Birds will move into the fifth seed. However, if Northern Colorado also loses both games of their two-game series with Weber State, SUU can still be the fourth seed. If UNC wins at least one game and Montana beats Idaho, the T-Birds will remain the sixth seed.
If the Thunderbirds lose both games to the Vikings they will drop below .500 and move down into the seventh seed.
Scouting Report: Portland State Vikings (10-11, 6-10 BSC)
The Vikings are coming off of a 83-41 win over Warner Pacific, but have dropped their last four Big Sky matchups with Northern Colorado and Idaho. They are currently in eighth place in the Big Sky standings.
Junior Desirae Hansen leads the Vikings in scoring at 12.4 points per game. Sophomore Jada Lewis is second in the Big Sky in three-point field goal percentage, dropping them in at a rate of 41.7 percent. Senior Kylie Jimenez is second in the conference in both steals and minutes played.
Head coach Lynn Kennedy is in his sixth season at the helm of the program.
Game Day Information
Both Wednesday and Friday's games are set to tip off at 6:30 p.m. inside the America First Event Center. Both games will be streamed live on PlutoTV channel 1055 and live stats will be available at tbirdstats.com.
Follow Us
Stay up to date during the 2020-21 Lady T-Bird Basketball season by following @SUUWBasketball on Twitter and Instagram and liking the Southern Utah Women's Basketball page on Facebook.
