CEDAR CITY, Utah– The SUU women’s basketball team lost to the Northern Colorado Bears, 71-44 on Thursday night.
“We had good energy to start the game and we were executing,” head coach Tracy Sanders said. “Defensively, we were locked in and we were doing a great job securing the rebounds. Our offense and defense go hand in hand and when we are scoring we usually defend better and that was how we started the game, but we got a lead and I think we got a little complacent.”
SUU jumped out to a 14-3 lead before UNC answered with an eight-to-two run to close out the first quarter. UNC’s Savannah Smith scored seven second quarter points to help give the Bears a 32-26 halftime lead.
The Lady T-Birds’ offense went cold in the second half, only scoring 18 points on 13 percent shooting. UNC shot 50 percent en route to 39 points to close out the victory.
Rebecca Cardenas and Bre Reid led SUU in scoring with eleven points apiece. Ashley Larsen followed with nine points and eleven rebounds.
Smith led UNC with 19 points and six assists.
The T-Birds could not figure out Smith’s pick and rolls. The Bears scored plenty of easy layups around the basket.
SUU won the rebound battle 39-34, but UNC outscored the Lady T-Birds 48-4 in the paint.
“We are going to have to take a day off and there will probably be a lot of film. It will all be about preparation and being smart about what we do and how we do it,” Sanders said about the upcoming week.
The Lady T-Birds host rival Northern Arizona on Monday, Jan. 28 at 6:30 p.m. in the America First Event Center. The contest will be streamed on Pluto TV Channel 236.
Story by: Aaron Peterson
aapete3232@gmail.com
Photo courtesy of SUU Athletics Strategic Communication
