CEDAR CITY, Utah– After opening the season with an electric win over New Mexico Monday night, the Southern Utah University women's basketball team will now host the Benedictine University at Mesa Redhawks on Wednesday, November 9th, before heading to Spokane for their first road trip of the season against the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Saturday, November 12th.
Game Info
Southern Utah vs Benedictine University at Mesa
Date: November 9th
Tip-off: 6:30 p.m. MT
Venue: America First Event Center
TV: ESPN+
Live Stream Live Stats
Southern Utah @ Gonzaga
Date: November 12th
Tip-off: 5 p.m. MT
Venue: McCarthey Athletic Center
TV: WCCSports
Live Stream Live Stats
ABOUT REDHAWKS (1-0)
Benedictine at Mesa is a part of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference, which is one of their largest conferences in NCAA Division III.
They kicked off their season last weekend with a 76-69 win over Ottawa University at Arizona Spirit on November 4th. This win was the first for their new head coach Rashawn Calvert in her first season as the Redhawks head coach.
In their first matchup, the Redhawks were led by senior guards Heavyn Jordan and Allie Coldwell. Both of these individuals came off the bench and had stellar performances. Jordan went off for 22 points with four rebounds, and three steals, while Coldwell recorded 13 points with seven rebounds and two steals.
After taking on the Thunderbirds on Wednesday the Redhawks will travel back down I-15 to battle the Utah Tech Trailblazers on Thursday, November 10th.
ABOUT GONZAGA (0-0)
Gonzaga is riding high coming into this season after going 27-7 overall and upsetting BYU in the WCC Tournament title game to qualify for March Madness last year. During the NCAA tournament, the Zags secured a first-round win over Nebraska before falling to the Lousiville in the round of 32.
Eighth-year head coach Lisa Fortier leads the Bulldogs. Fortier has made the program increasingly successful, posting seven 20-win seasons during her time at the helm.
Fortier returns several crucial play makers from the Zags WCC championship run last season, who were also recognized as 2022-2023 Preseason All-WCC. Sisters Kayleigh and Kaylynne Truong were both given these honors after they each finished top-three in scoring for the Bulldogs a year ago. Joining the two sisters is the 2022 WCC Sixth woman of the year and preseason All-WCC honoree Yvonne Ejim.
The Zags are predicted to repeat as WCC Champions as the 2022-2023 preseason poll picked them to win the conference with 81 first-place votes.
Gonzaga will not open up their season until Thursday, November 10th at home against Long Beach State.
LAST TIME OUT
The Thunderbirds last took down mountain west foe New Mexico 76-68 in their season opener Monday Night.
New Mexico started the game strong with a powerful one-two punch from sisters Latasyca Brown and Latora Brown, who each connected from three early to spark a 13-4 run in the opening five minutes. The Thunderbirds quickly found their footing and climbed back into the game as Whitman and Alexa Lord went to work down low, igniting a 9-4 run and ending the quarter trailing by one.
The Lobos quickly struck back in the second quarter, forcing a string of seven second-quarter Thunderbird turnovers and extending their lead back out to 41-36 at the half.
Coming out of the half, the T-Birds stepped on the gas as Lizzy Williamson began to heat up, scoring ten points in the third quarter, and Daylani Ballena roped together two deep threes to help gain their largest lead of 61-51 before the end of the third quarter.
New Mexico fought hard in the fourth to trim into the lead, but the Thunderbirds continued to show off their offensive firepower as Ballena and Whitman muscled in a series of tough shots late in the fourth to put the game out of reach.
THUNDERBIRDS NOTES
Southern Utah's strong performance against New Mexico was led by a trio of dynamic scorers Tomkeia Whitman, Lizzy Williamson, and Daylani Ballena. In her first game as Thunderbird, Whitman recorded a team-high 20 points with 12 rebounds and two steals. Williamson was a force in the paint all night, racking up 19 points on 9 of 10 shooting with 13 rebounds and three blocks. Ballena also contributed 18 points and five assists of her own.
In addition to shooting 47.7 % from the field, the Thunderbirds dominated the rebounding battle 54-32 and stacked up tons of high-percentage shots scoring 44 of their points in the paint to the Lobo's 30.
SUU's win over New Mexico marks the program's first win over a Mountain West program since 2018.
Wednesday's home matchup is the first-ever meeting between SUU and Benedictine.
Saturday's road contest in Spokane will be the fourth contest between the Thunderbirds and Bulldogs, with Gonzaga leading the series 2-1. The last time these teams met was in 2014 when Southern Utah fell to Gonzaga 51-70 on the road.
Head Coach Tracy Sanders on the win over New Mexico
"I'm very proud of this group. It has been a long stretch of us playing against each other, and we were excited to come out here and open things up at home. New Mexico is a tough team with a great tradition and to have them come out here to Cedar City was pretty exciting. We are in a great spot, and I'm excited about the progress that we've made."
Head Coach Tracy Sanders on the next two matchups
"Early in the season, we need to continue to focus and learn something from each game we play. One thing I love about coaching this group is they are eager to learn and get better every day. You can tell these girls things, and they understand what adjustments we need them to make. Their execution has been great so far and I hope we carry that into the rest of this week."
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