LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA -- Ava Uhrich and Sierra Chambers combined for 46 of the Thunderbirds' 68 points, but the ferocious comeback by SUU came up just short, and the T-Birds fall to 8-4 to close out the 2025-26 non-conference season.

Head Coach Tracy Mason said

"Playing a back-to-back is always tough, and we came out a little flat to start the game and dug ourselves a hole that was hard to comeback from. I am proud of the way the team battled back and showed how resilient we are. We had a good preseason, and now we set our sights on conference play."

Top T-Birds

• Ava Uhrich was absolutely dominant all game. She topped her season-high once again, scoring 26 points on 10-15 from the field. She pulled down eight rebounds and dished a team-high six assists, which ties her career-high.
• Sierra Chambers dropped in 20 points, on 4-7 from deep.
• Lone senior on the team, Ashley Banks had a quality performance, scoring six points, grabbing a team-high nine rebounds, and recording two assists and two blocks.

Game Recap

First Half

The Lions jumped out to a quick lead, but a three-pointer from Sierra Chambers made it 5-6 in favor of LMU and then the Lions went on a 10-0 run over the next four mintues of game time, and the lead was suddenly 11. 

An offensive rebound from Kortney Doman led to a layup for Chambers, and the Thunderbirds went into the second quarter trailing 23-11.

A layup from LMU to start the second quarter pushed the lead to 14, and the Thunderbirds' offense started clicking. A layup from Banks followed by back-to-back threes from Uhrich and Devyn Kiernan, and the lead deficit was cut in half just like that.

LMU made just two field goals in the entire second quarter, but a significant free-throw disparity helped them maintain a lead. The Thunderbirds were 1-3 from the free throw line in the first half, and the Lions were 12-15, including 10-11 in the second quarter alone.

The Thunderbirds went into the halftime break trailing by 11.

Second Half

Chambers started the second half with a triple, and then Ava Uhrich had back-to-back and-one's, and the lead was cut to four just two minutes into the second half.

A baby hook from Olivia Malafu had the Thunderbirds within two, but LMU again had an answer and pushed the lead back to eight with under two minutes to play in the third quarter. 

Sierra Chambers finished the third quarter the same way she started it, making a deep triple that pulled SUU back within four points with one quarter left.

A personal 5-0 run from Uhrich had SUU trailing by just one point early in the fourth quarter. But LMU answered with an and-one of their own, and the teams would exchange baskets for a few minutes.

Uhrich had the Thunderbirds down by one three different times in the fourth quarter, but each time the Lions had a response. 

Turnovers hurt the Thunderbirds all game long, committing 16 on the game, and the Lions turned them into 22 points.

Up Next

The next time the T-Birds are in action will be against in-state rival Utah Tech in the first matchup of Western Athletic Conference play on Monday, December 29, at 6:30 p.m. at the America First Event Center.

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