After dropping back-to-back contests to begin the season, the defending WAC champion SUU women’s basketball team won its first game Wednesday night.
Hosting Division II program Alaska Fairbanks, the two teams battled back-and-forth in the opening quarter.
The teams each scored 10 points in the first five minutes, but it would be the T-birds to make the first run of the contest. With the game tied, SUU went on an 8-0 run to take an 18-10 lead. After the first quarter, the T-birds led by five (20-15).
Southern Utah continued its run to begin quarter two, taking its first double-digit lead of the game halfway through the period, 28-17.
The visiting Nanooks cut the deficit to six, but the home team took an eight-point lead to the halftime break (34-26).
SUU was able to grow its lead back to 10 in the opening minutes of the second half, but a 13-6 run by Alaska Fairbanks made the score 44-41 with just under four minutes to play in the third quarter. The T-birds responded by scoring six of the final seven points of the period to take a 50-42 lead to the break.
The Nanooks were unable to get closer than eight points in the fourth quarter as SUU finished the contest on a 5-0 spurt to secure the 72-58 victory.
The T-birds notched the win behind a strong interior presence, scoring 52 points in the paint to just 20 for the visitors. SUU also forced 24 turnovers, turning the mistakes into 27 points on offense.
Megan Smith led the way in the game for the T-birds, dropping a career-high 30 points. Daylani Ballena added 18 points.
With the win, Southern Utah improves to 1-2 on the season following losses in its first two games against Eastern Washington and Western Kentucky.
Up next
The T-birds (1-2) now head out on the road for the first time this season.
SUU will take on UC Santa Barbara on Sunday, Nov. 19 at 3 p.m. MT. The game can be seen on ESPN+.
