CEDAR CITY, Utah - In a monumental 78-70 home win on Feb. 22, the Southern Utah women's basketball team dismantled an Abilene Christian defense that leads the Western Athletic Conference. The 19-8 Thunderbirds push past ACU for the second place spot in the conference standings with an 11-4 WAC record. The Wildcats drop to 19-8 overall with a 10-4 record in the WAC.
Top T-Birds
- Junior Ava Uhrich pieced together her ninth double-double of the campaign with another monster game. Shooting 58.8% from the field, she poured in 26 points and brought down 13 boards. Defensively, she logged three steals and two blocks.
- Adding to her totals for the season, sophomore Sierra Chambers scored 17 points, including a jumper that put an end to ACU's comeback attempt.
- Senior Ashley Banks performed well in a senior day game dedicated just to her. She chipped in four rebounds, two assists, and a block that puts her seventh on the all-time leaderboard.
Head Coach Tracy Mason Said:
Game Recap
First Half
Abilene Christian jumped ahead on a 7-2 run and showed off their impressive defense, but sophomore Kortney Doman sparked her team's momentum by turning a pair of Southern Utah steals into fast break scores. The Thunderbirds trailed 16-10 by the close of the first.
Even though the Wildcats continued to rumble in the second, SUU put together a momentous string of plays, starting with a sneaky layup from sophomore Bella Hasan on an assist from Banks.
An outstanding shot-clock-beating jumper from junior Ava Uhrich and a triple from junior Charli Kay cut it closer before a pair of scores from Hasan tied the game with under three minutes left in the first half. As the clock ticked under one, Uhrich downed a pair of buckets to send Southern Utah into halftime knotted up at 26-26.
Second Half
The Thunderbirds remained fearless in the start of the third, with sophomore Sierra Chambers returning to the floor and scoring an and-one layup and a three-pointer in a span of thirty seconds. Freshman Devyn Kiernan added a pair of threes to continue Southern Utah's push and Doman pitched in a final and-one layup to take a 54-44 advantage into the final quarter.
Uhrich continued her scoring onslaught when it counted, racking up 11 fourth-quarter points. With an eight-point lead and just under a minute left, Chambers knocked down a game-changing jumper for a double-digit lead that ACU couldn't come back from. Southern Utah closed out their biggest win of the year at 78-70.
Highlights
Up Next
Southern Utah will start a three-game road stretch to close out their season with a Saturday, Feb. 28, matchup against Utah Tech in St. George, Utah. The 2:00 p.m. game can be viewed live on ESPN+.
Tickets
Season tickets, mini packages, and single-game tickets are now available! Get yours today by visiting tbirdtickets.com.
Follow Us
For all the latest on Southern Utah women's basketball, follow @SUUWBasketball on Twitter and Instagram, and like the Southern Utah Women's Basketball Facebook page.
Donate
To help support Thunderbirds athletics, consider making a donation today! To learn more about how you can support, click here.
