CEDAR CITY, Utah– The Southern Utah University women's basketball team fell to UC Santa Barbara 102-96 in a triple-overtime slugfest Saturday night at the America First Event Center. The loss moves the Thunderbirds to 2-4 on the year.
TBIRD TIDBITS
Southern Utah played efficiently offensively, edging out the Gauchos in field goal percentage shooting 45.9 percent from the field compared to UCSB's 40 percent while pummeling them from a three-point range shooting 42.9 percent to 26.1. The Thunderbirds also racked up 20 assists, while the Gauchos only had 12.
TOP THUNDERBIRDS
Southern Utah had several players explode for double figures in the losing effort, led by Cherita Daugherty and Daylani Ballena, who combined for a total of 41 points. Daugherty asserted herself around the rim finishing, with 21 points and four assists, while Ballena came up clutch in several key moments recording 20 points and seven assists of her own.
Lizzy Williamson continued her same trend earning her fifth double-double this year with 18 points, 15 rebounds, and a team-leading three blocks. She is now 29th in the entire nation in double-doubles.
Samantha Johnston and Megan Jensen were both remarkably efficient on the night. Johnston finished with 15 points splashing four of her six shots from behind the arc. Jensen added 12 points of her own while corralling a team-leading three steals on the night.
FIRST HALF
In a fiery physical matchup, the Thunderbirds got off to a rocky start falling behind 9-2 in the opening minutes, but a series of Cherita Daugherty trips to the free-throw line and a deep circus shot three-pointer from Daylani Ballena cut the lead to 13-10 at the end of the first quarter.
SUU continued to chip away at the deficit coming out of the quarter and saw powerful play from their bigs, Lizzy Willamson and Megan Jensen. In their first four possessions of the second quarter, the pair each put away two tough layups to bring the game even 18-18 at the 6:13 mark.
After the Thunderbirds had a lull in their scoring, UCSB extended their back out to 29-23 with 2:58 left in the quarter. SUU immediately answered back, as Williamson finished the half with a block and two crucial buckets to bring the score to 31-28 at the break.
SECOND HALF
Southern Utah battled back right out of the half, sizzling out onto a 6-0 run off a patented Samantha Johnston corner three and a mid-range jumper from Willamson to take their first lead of the game, 35-31 at 8:45.
After the UCSB pulled the game back on their next three possessions, the Thunderbirds began to see extremely efficient looks and burst out onto a 10-0 run, topped off by a Cherita Daugherty jumper that forced USCB into a timeout at the 2:53 mark.
UC Santa Barbara would not go away as they countered with a run of their own to bring the game within four points at the beginning of the fourth.
As the game came down to crunch time in the fourth quarter, both teams began to trade their own respective jabs back and forth. The Thunderbirds maintained their lead as Megan Jensen connected with two top-of-the-key threes, and Tomekia Whitman finished home a coast-to-coast layup, giving the Thunderbirds a 60-56 lead with 5:22 left.
After a melee down the stretch, Ballena rattled in a foul line jumper to give SUU the lead with 42 seconds remaining, but UCSB found a miracle of their own to tie the game at 66, sending it into overtime.
OVERTIME
In the first overtime, neither side would give the other an inch as Ballena dished out a dime to Whitman on a back-door layup, before dropping a mid-range jumper of her own, willing the Thunderbirds to a 75-71 lead with under a minute left. The Gauchos would keep finding answers, sinking two free throws to knot the game back at 75 and push the game into another extra period.
Santa Barbara would take the advantage in double OT, jumping out to an 83-79 lead at 1:44. But the Thunderbirds would force a third overtime after Daugherty miraculously found Johnston in the corner to tie the game 85-85 with nine seconds left.
In triple overtime, Southern Utah held the game close, but it wasn't enough in the end, as UCSB walked away with the 102-96 victory.
NEXT UP
The Thunderbirds will now have to rebound quickly as they host Texas A&M University-Commerce on Thursday, Dec. 1, at Noon MT.
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