CEDAR CITY, Utah– The Southern Utah University women's basketball team will tip off their 2022-2023 season on Monday, November 7th, as they host the New Mexico Lobos at 6:30 p.m. MT.
Game Info
Southern Utah vs New Mexico
Date: November 7
Tip-off: 6:30 p.m. MT
Venue: America First Event Center
TV: ESPN+
Live Stream Live Stats
LAST TIME OUT
Southern Utah last closed out its time in the Big Sky on March 8th, with a Big Sky tournament quarterfinal 64-77 loss to the lower sixth-seeded Idaho Vandals in the Idaho Central Arena.
Darri Dotson led the way for Southern Utah in her final game in a Thunderbird uniform. Dotson was a force down low, recording a double double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Cherita Daugherty led the scoring for SUU with 16 points and eight rebounds of her own.
The first half was tightly contested, with SUU trailing by one after each quarter. Neither team led by more than four points through the opening 20 minutes, and both sides traded leads in both quarters. It was the opening minutes of the second half that gave the Vandals the edge, though, when they opened the third quarter on a 10-0 run. That stretch gave Idaho an 11-point lead, and the T-Birds never got closer than seven for the remainder of the game.
ABOUT NEW MEXICO
New Mexico finished last season with a program record for most wins in a single season with an overall record of 26-10 and a Mountain West record of 14-4 before being eliminated in the Mountain West semi-finals by Fresno State.
Seventh-year head coach Mike Bradbury leads the Lobos with a 120-65 overall record throughout his career. Bradbury has guided New Mexico to three 20-win seasons in the past four years.
New Mexico has three preseason All-Mountain West players heading into 2022. Senior transfer Amaya Brown was named preseason newcomer of the year, and Hannah Robinson was voted MW freshman newcomer of the year. Joining the two newcomers on the All-Mountain West first team is senior Shaiquel McGruder, who averaged 14.2 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks per game last year.
The Lobos were picked to finish second place in the 2022-2023 Mountain West Conference preseason poll, behind the regular season champions from a year ago, UNLV.
THUNDERBIRDS NOTES
The Thunderbirds are coming off their third straight winning season under Tracy Sanders after finishing last season with an 18-12 overall record.
The 2022-2023 Western Athletic Conference coaches poll picked the Thunderbirds to finish in sixth place just three votes behind Abilene Christian in fifth.
Southern Utah is returning several dynamic players. Graduate Senior and 2022 Preseason second-team All-WAC member Cherita Daugherty will be a leader for the Thunderbirds after averaging 10.6 points, six rebounds, and three assists last year. Daylani Ballena will be a key contributor in the Thunderbird frontcourt after having a breakout 2021 season where she averaged 10 points.
The T-Birds will also be led by notable transfers like 2022 Preseason First-Team All WAC Tomekia Whitman (Idaho State) and Megan Jensen (Utah Valley). Both are expected to make a huge impact on the Thunderbirds.
Under coach Sanders, the Thunderbirds are 2-2 in the season openers. SUU defeated San Diego 69-59 in her first-ever victory in 2018. In 2019, the T-Birds racked up another win by downing Cal State Fullerton 79-63. In the past two seasons, SUU has suffered narrow defeats, dropping a game to UVU 48-57 in 2020 and falling in a heartbreaker to Cal State Fullerton 69-71 in 2021.
These two teams have only met one other time, in 2015, when the Thunderbirds fell to the Lobos 48-70 down in Albuquerque.
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