CEDAR CITY, Utah– The Southern Utah University women's basketball team will battle the No. 21 ranked Oregon Ducks in the final game of a three-game road stretch on Monday, November 21st, at Matthew Knight Arena.
Game Info
Southern Utah @ Oregon
Location: Eugene, Oregon
Date: November 21st
Tip-off: 7 p.m. MT
Venue: Matthew Knight Arena
TV: PAC12.com
Live Stream Live Stats
ABOUT THE THUNDERBIRDS (2-2)
Southern Utah started the season with two crucial wins over the New Mexico Lobos and the Benedictine RedHawks before dropping their last two meetings to Gonzaga and Eastern Washington.
Redshirt Junior Lizzy Williamson leads the Thunderbirds averaging a double-double with 13.5 points and 10.8 rebounds, recording a double-double in three of her first four games. Daylani Ballena and Tomekia Whitman are two other players putting up double figures for Southern Utah. Ballena averages 12.7 points with a team-leading 5.5 assists per game. Whitman recorded a team-high 20 points in her debut for the Thunderbirds against New Mexico and has averaged 11.7 points and six rebounds this season.
The T-Birds have dominated the glass this season, ranking ninth in the entire country in rebounds, corralling nearly 52 total boards per game which is 17.5 more than their opponents.
The last time SUU faced a Pac-12 opponent was in 2021 when the Colorado Buffalos and JR Payne topped the Thunderbirds in Cedar City.
During her playing career at Saint Mary's SUU Head coach, Tracy Sanders played all four years for under current Oregon head coach Kelly Graves.
LAST TIME OUT
Southern Utah came up short in their last matchup against former Big Sky foe Eastern Washington, losing on the final shot of regulation 62-60. The loss moves the Thunderbirds to 2-2 overall on the season.
Lizzy Williamson and Cherita Daugherty both led the scoring for the Thunderbirds. Williamson continued to thrash down low earning her third double-double of the season with 13 points and 14 rebounds. After a quiet first half, Daugherty finished with 13 points and four boards of her own. Megan Jensen also earned a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Sam Johnston recorded nine points, shooting three for five from downtown.
In a back-and-forth matchup, with multiple lead changes it would come down to the wire in the final quarter. With just five minutes remaining, the Thunderbirds would explode to an 8 to 0 run to tie the game 56-56 off a pair of three-pointers from Daugherty and a tough contested layup from Williamson.
As the clock ticked under a minute, EWU reclaimed the lead 58-56, but Southern Utah responded when Williamson found Samantha Johnston behind the arc, who splashed down a three-pointer, putting SUU in front 59-58 with 40 seconds remaining. After both sides failed to convert on their next possessions, the Eagles took the lead back 60-59, sending the Thunderbirds crashing down the court. Daugherty found a lane and forced contact on a shot, putting her on the line. Daugherty connected with her second of two free throws to knot the game at 60 with four seconds left. In the final possession, Eastern hit a game-winning shot at the buzzer to win the game 62-60.
ABOUT THE DUCKS (3-0)
The No. 21 ranked Oregon Ducks head into Monday's matchup off an 83-46 trouncing win of the Southern University Jaguars on November 14th. The Ducks remain one of the nine undefeated teams in the powerhouse Pac-12 conference this season while defeating fellow WAC foe Seattle 90-47 and Northwestern 100-57.
Oregon is tenth in the country in scoring averaging nearly 91 points per game while holding their opponents to just 50 points per contest. The Ducks have six players averaging double digits and are led by Freshman Forward Grace VanSlooten, who averages 13.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and three assists per game. Meanwhile, Ednyia Rogers, Jennah Isai, Te-Hina Paopao, Chance Gray, and Phillpinia Kyei average more than 10 points per game.
The Ducks are led by head coach Kelly Graves, who has a 190-75 overall record during his eight seasons in Oregon.
These two teams have met three other times. The Ducks lead the series 2-1, earning the most recent victory back in 2017 in Eugene.
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