CHENEY, Wash.– The Southern Utah University women's basketball team fell to the Eastern Washington Eagles 62-60 in heartbreaking fashion on the final play Monday night in Cheney.
The Loss drops the Thunderbirds to 2-2 overall, while the win improves the Eagles to 3-0 this season.
Lizzy Williamson and Cherita Daugherty both led the way for the Thunderbirds offensively. Willamson earned her third double-double in four games scoring 13 points and 14 rebounds, while Daugherty added 13 points and four rebounds of her own. Megan Jensen also finished with a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
As a team, Southern Utah shot just 33.3 percent compared to Eastern Washington's 43.9 percent from the floor. The Thunderbirds did outrebound their opponents 46 to 30.
SUU got off to a slow start shooting just 20% and allowing Eastern Washington to surge out to an 8-0 lead in the first two minutes. The Thunderbirds quickly picked things up after Daylani Ballena sunk a deep three to bring the score to 9-12 at the end of the first quarter.
After the Eagles connected on a series of mid-range jumpers to begin the second quarter, the Thunderbirds exploded out onto a 15-5 run off a flurry of layups from Lizzy Williamson, capped off by a three-pointer from Megan Jensen to give SUU a 25-22 lead into the half.
The game continued to remain close coming out of the break as EWU shot 60% from the field in the quarter and connected on all three of their shots from behind the arch to reclaim the lead 44-42.
In the fourth, each side traded their jabs back and forth, with neither team giving an inch. With just five minutes remaining the Thunderbirds went on a 5-0 spurt to tie the game off a pair of threes from Daugherty and a tough layup from Williamson in the paint. Eagles point guard Jaydia Martin responded with a sequence of free throws to retake the lead 58-56.
As the clock ticked under a minute, the game continued to come down to the wire when Williamson found Samantha Johnston in the corner, who splashed a three to put SUU back in front 59-58. After each team failed to convert on their next two possessions, Eastern Washington forced in a layup to jump back on top 60-59. The Thunderbirds came crashing down the court, where Daugherty found to contact and went to the free-throw line. Daugherty connected with her second of two free throws to knot the game up at 60 with four seconds left. In the final possession, Eastern found space inside the paint and sunk a jumper at the buzzer to win the game 62-60.
Up Next
The Thunderbirds now have the rest of this week off before heading to Eugene on November 21st to battle the Oregon Ducks at 7 p.m. MT in Matthew Knight Arena.
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