The Lady T-Birds were in Ogden early Thursday for a matinee matchup with the Weber State Wildcats, but were unable to top the ‘Cats in front of 2,000 elementary school students from around the area.
The Wildcats began to pull away early as the Thunderbird offense needed some time to get going, but once the Thunderbirds were able to find their stroke they were able to keep themselves in it. As a team they finished the opening quarter four for their last five and down by just five points.
Southern Utah had a big second quarter, out-rebounding the Wildcats 13-5 and outscoring them 14-12. Kiana Johnson had seven first-half points and they all came in the second quarter. Skylee Doman finished the first half 3-4 with six points.
The second half got off to a slow start for the Thunderbirds as they scored just seven points in the third quarter. Defensively they were able to hold the Wildcats to just 13 points and give themselves a shot in the fourth quarter. The Southern Utah offense stepped up in the fourth scoring a game-high 16 points, but they were able to keep the Wildcats from scoring as they outscored the Thunderbirds 22-16 to take the 65-50 victory.
Johnson matched a career-high in points with 20 and set a new career-high in rebounds with 10. This was also the first double-double of her career. Breanu Reid put up 11 points and Ashley Larsen had seven points with seven rebounds.
The Thunderbirds will continue their trip north to take on the Idaho State Bengals on Saturday.
Stay up to date during the 2017-18 Lady T-Bird Basketball season by following @SUUWBasketball on Twitter and Instagram and liking the Southern Utah Women’s Basketball page on Facebook.
Story By
SUU Athletics Strategic Communications
