POCATELLO, Idaho– The Southern Utah University women's basketball team saw their five-game winning streak come to an end Saturday afternoon, as they fell to the Idaho State Bengals 80-60.
With the loss, the Thunderbirds fall to 9-6 overall and 5-1 in the Big Sky Conference, while Idaho State improved its record to 12-6 on the year and 8-1 in conference play.
As a team, SUU shot just 42.8% compared to Idaho State, which shot 54.2% from the floor. Southern Utah did out-rebound the Bengals 28-26 and forced them into 14 turnovers.
Cherita Daugherty was the leading scorer for the Thunderbirds with 16 points. She also grabbed four rebounds and had three assists. Darri Dotson performed well down low for the Thunderbirds racking up 13 points while leading the team in rebounding with six boards. Daylani Ballena also added 11 points of her own.
Both teams went back and forth in the opening possessions of the game. Idaho State found a slight edge early and jumped out to a 10-5 lead midway through the first quarter. The Thunderbirds quickly found a response to the Bengals surge as Cherita Daugherty hit two three-pointers to bring their deficit to 12-15 at the end of the quarter.
Coming out of the break, ISU took back control of the game and capitalized on three SUU turnovers to jump back out to a 27-20 lead, but the T-Birds continued to answer back. Darri Dotson and Natalia Otkhmezuri found quick scoring opportunities to bring them within two points with three minutes remaining.
Each side continued to trade blows back in the remaining minutes of the quarter, but Idaho State was the dominant force on this night. They jumped out to another six-point advantage to close the half and poured it on in the second half.
In the third quarter, the Bengals went on a blistering 12-3 run to extend their lead to 17 points, and they never looked back from there.
The T-Birds will be back in action quickly as they travel to Ogden to face dreaded rival Weber State on Monday, January 24th. Tip-off is at 6 p.m. and the game can be viewed on ESPN+.
For all the latest on Southern Utah women's basketball, follow @SUUWBasketball on Twitter and Instagram and like the Southern Utah Women's Basketball Facebook page.
