Both the Southern Utah men’s and women’s basketball teams played on Friday night against Seattle U. The women’s team secured a close 61-57 victory, while the men fell 75-52.
Here is a recap of both games, beginning with the women’s basketball team’s home victory.
Women’s basketball
Searching for their first conference win of the season, the T-birds emerged with a 61-57 win on Saturday afternoon.
SUU began the game by scoring the first five points, but the Redhawks answered with a 20-7 run to jump ahead by eight (20-12). The T-birds were able to score the final two buckets of the opening frame, cutting the deficit to four heading to the second quarter (20-16).
The second quarter was low-scoring, as the Thunderbirds edged the visitors 12-9. This cut the Seattle lead to just one (29-28) heading to the halftime break.
Quarter three was once again close. SUU made a three-pointer to start the second half scoring, taking a 31-29 lead. The T-birds would push their advantage up to nine with under three minutes on the clock (43-34), but an 8-0 answer from Seattle cut the lead to one (43-42) to end the period.
The Redhawks’ momentum would continue into the final frame, as the visitors retook the lead and pushed their lead to four with under seven minutes to go (47-43). A 12-3 spurt by Southern Utah put the home team back in front (55-50), which would be enough to secure the win. Seattle U would cut the lead to two, but four late free throws gave the T-birds their first conference victory, 61-57.
Ava Uhrich was the top performer for SUU, scoring a team-high 15 points while adding 6 rebounds and a career-high 6 assists.
The Thunderbirds’ defense shut down Seattle from the field in the game, holding the visitors to a mere 25.8 percent shooting while edging the Redhawks in the rebounding battle (44-42).
With the win, Southern Utah improves to 3-14 on the year, including 1-3 in WAC action.
Coach Mason postgame
Up next
The T-birds (3-14, 1-3 WAC) will travel to Phoenix next, taking on first-place Grand Canyon (17-2, 4-0) on Thursday, Jan. 23.
SUU will battle the Lopes at 6 p.m. MT and the game can be seen on ESPN+.
Men’s basketball
Playing Seattle U on the road, the SUU men’s basketball team dropped a 75-52 contest on Saturday night.
The T-birds led for only 16 seconds early in the game, before falling behind and never being able to recover.
In under nine minutes, the Redhawks had their first double-digit lead (24-14) before pushing it to 20 just three minutes later (34-14). Seattle U dominated the remainder of the half, taking a 25-point lead into the break, 47-22.
The game wouldn’t get much closer from there, as the T-birds trailed by 19 or more the remainder of the way. Seattle would close out the game with two buckets to secure a 23-point victory, 75-52.
Jamir Simpson led SUU in defeat, notching 15 points. Hercy Miller and Tavi Jackson each chipped in 13 points.
Southern Utah struggled overall in the loss, losing the turnover battle (18-6) and shooting just 35.7 percent from the field.
With the loss, the Thunderbirds fall to 9-9 on the season, 1-3 in WAC play.
Up next
Southern Utah (9-9, 1-3 WAC) will return home on Thursday, Jan. 23, to face the defending WAC champion, Grand Canyon (13-5, 3-1).
The T-birds and Lopes matchup will tip off at 6:30 p.m. MT and can be seen on ESPN+.
