Sanchez’s Career Night Not Enough As Thunderbirds Fall to Aggies

Freshman Natalie Sanchez dropped 20 points on her way to a new career-high as the Southern Utah University women’s basketball team fell 85-59 to the undefeated Aggies of UC Davis Friday afternoon.

Things got off to a rough start for the Lady T-Birds in this one as the Aggies put up 14 quick points to jump out to a 14-4 lead at one point. The Thunderbirds were able to gain back a little ground before the end of the first quarter, scoring 10 points with five of them going to Ashley Larsen.

The scoring improved in each of the following quarters for the Lady T-Birds, but unfortunately they were not able to slow down the Aggies’ attack. UC Davis hot over 50 percent from the field in both halves, finishing with a 52.4 shooting percentage for the night. The Thunderbirds made their best run in the fourth quarter when they put up 20 points behind hot shooting from Sanchez.

Sanchez did all of her scoring in the second and fourth quarters, putting up eight points in the second and knocking down three three-pointers in the fourth, including drawing a foul and converting the free throw to complete the rare four-point play. The freshman finished 6-11 and 3-3 from the free throw line for the first 20 point game of her career. Breanu Reid also finished in double digits, scoring 10 points and dishing out two assists.

The Lady T-Birds will play the final game of their four-game home stand Monday night as they host the Roadrunners of CSU Bakersfield. Last season the Thunderbirds were able to defeat the Roadrunners 65-59 in California. Tip off is set for 6:30 p.m. in the America First Event Center.

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SUU Athletics Strategic Communications