CEDAR CITY, Utah – The Southern Utah University women's basketball team overpowered Stephen F. Austin 67-59 Saturday afternoon in the America First Event Center. The post tandem of Lizzy Williamson and Megan Jensen led the way for the Thunderbirds, combining for 32 points. With the win, Southern Utah claims first place in the WAC regular season standings and improves to (17-8; WAC 13-1), while the Ladyjacks fall to (22-5; WAC 11-3). 

TBird Tidbits

• Southern Utah had an efficient night offensively shooting, 48.9 percent from the field, while a stellar defensive effort held SFA to 35.1 percent on the night. 

• The Thunderbirds topped Stephen F. in the rebounding battle 36-25. 

• SUU had an impressive night from downtown shooting 57.1 percent.

 Williamson was a menace for the Thunderbirds all night, recording a double-double with 16 points, 15 rebounds, a game-leading two blocks, and two steals. Her partner in the paint, Jensen, had 16 points on 7-8 shooting, with six rebounds and a block. 

Tomekia Whitman came up clutch off the bench, racking up 14 points and two steals while shooting 8-10 from the free throw line. Cherita Daugherty added seven points, six rebounds, and a team-high four assists. 

First Half

In a matchup between the WAC's two top dogs, the Thunderbirds would get a fast start, rifling out a 10-4 spurt after Williamson and Jensen each hit opening buckets, and Daylani Ballena drained two straight triples to give them the early lead at the 6:34 mark. 

Stephen F immediately countered with a 9-2 run of their own off two layups in the post and two sets of free throws to take the lead 13-12 with 2:06 left. Southern Utah would find an answer to close the first quarter as Whitman muscled her way to the rim and sunk two free throws to give SUU the 14-13 advantage. 

Each team traded layups in the paint to begin the second quarter before the Thunderbirds started to go to work down low. Jensen and Williamson connected on layups, and Whitman pickpocketed a ball away from the LadyJacks for a fast break layup to push SUU's lead back out five,24-19, with 5:21 on the clock.  

After Samantha Johnston struck from downtown to extend the lead, SFA would respond with two straight threes to claw back with two points, 27-25, with under five minutes remaining. 

Southern Utah kept the intensity high and bolted out on a 9-2 run off of a turnaround layup from Williamson, a pair of free throws from Daugherty, and two flashy buckets in the post from Jensen to give the Thunderbirds their largest lead of the half, 36-27, heading into halftime.  

Second Half 

Stephen F Austin came out of the half firing on all cylinders, hitting two layups down low and two sequences of free throws to cut the Thunderbird lead to three points, 40-37, midway through the third. 

Southern Utah would halt SFA's surge as Jensen would dish a dime to Williamson for a floater in the key before slicing through the Ladyjack defense for a layup of her own to extend SUU's lead back out to 45-39.

Following a pair of free throws from Whitman and a layup from Williamson, the Ladyjacks would fight back within four points, 49-45, at the end of the third quarter. 

In the final quarter, both teams started by trading buckets before Southern Utah took back control as Jensen canned a layup and a wide-open three-pointer, while Whitman cruised down the right side of the lane for an easy bucket putting the Thunderbirds up 56-49 with 4:29 left. 

SFA would not go away as they answered right back with a mid-range jumper. SUU continued to find answers as Whitman connected on a layup in the paint, and Daugherty had a clutch offensive board for a putback layup to put the Thunderbirds in front 60-51 with 3:28 left. 

The Ladyjacks cut the lead back to 61-55 with nearly 1:40 remaining and began to pressure the ball in hopes to force an errant pass, but the Thunderbirds stayed composed and forced SFA to foul, sending Ballena, Johnston, Whitman, and Williamson all to the free throw line down the stretch, to clinch the 67-59 victory for SUU. 

Up Next

Southern Utah will take one final regular season road trip to Texas to take on Abilene Christian on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 5 p.m. MT, before facing off against Tarleton State on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 1 p.m. MT.  

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