CEDAR CITY, Utah – After suffering its first conference loss of the season at Idaho State, the Southern Utah University women's basketball team will attempt to bounce back Monday night when they challenge in-state rival Weber State on the Wildcats' home floor.
GAME INFO
Southern Utah at Weber State
Date: January 24, 2022
Tip-Off: 6:00 p.m. MT
Location: Ogden, Utah
Venue: Dee Events Center
TV: ESPN+
Watch | Live Stats | Southern Utah Notes
NOTES
-Southern Utah enters Monday's rivalry game as the second-place team in the Big Sky Conference, trailing only Idaho State.
-With its loss to Idaho State in its last game, Southern Utah saw its five-game winning streak snapped.
-SUU owns a record of 6-1 against Weber State under the leadership of head coach Tracy Sanders.
-The Thunderbirds and Wildcats last met in January of 2021 when SUU narrowly escaped Ogden with a 76-74, double-overtime victory.
-The T-Birds have the top scoring offense in the Big Sky Conference at 73.7 points per game. Weber State is eighth with 61.5 points per contest.
ABOUT WEBER STATE (7-10, 3-5)
-Weber State has lost four-straight games heading into Monday night's contest. The Wildcats fell to Idaho State, 69-63, in their last game.
-Daryn Hickok leads the Wildcats with an average of 13.8 points per contest. Jadyn Matthews, Emma Torbert and Kori Pentzer also average double figures with 12.4, 11.9 and 10.6 points per game, respectively.
-WSU is coached by Velaida Harris who is in her third season as head coach of the Wildcats.
LAST TIME OUT
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.
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.
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