The Thunderbirds’ Women’s Basketball team tipped off their regular season opener Thursday, Nov. 8, with a win over the California State Fullerton Titans defeating them 79-63.
The T-Birds looked impressive yet again handling the Titans with ease. Southern Utah held the lead throughout the game led by freshman guard Madelyn Eaton who dropped 20 points on the day.
Four other Thunderbirds hit double digits with 15 from Jessica Chatman, 13 from Harley Hansen, 12 from Rebecca Cardenas and Darri Frandsen scoring 11.
Eaton came out with assertiveness playing in her first regular season collegiate game shooting 70% from the field.
On the defensive side of the ball Chatman led the efforts on rebounds helping SUU out rebound the Titans 39-26 which was a big factor in the final outcome. 
The T-Birds kept a commanding lead throughout the first two quarters and went into the half on top 41-27.
Going into the third quarter SUU began to struggle allowing the Titans to cut the lead to just nine within the first four minutes. The Titans outscored the Thunderbirds 19-16 in the third and ended the quarter with a score of 57-46 with SUU still on top.
That was the only quarter that CSUF outscored the T-Birds. SUU came back on top and opened the fourth with a 15-5 run. They kept the lead through the rest of the game outscoring the Titans 22-17 in the fourth and eventually came out with the win.
The Thunderbirds head north this weekend where they face off against the Wolverines of Utah Valley University this Saturday, Nov. 9 at 4 p.m. SUU takes a two week away run until they’re back home where they will play UNLV on Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 6:30 p.m. in the America First Event Center.
Story By Hoku Curnan
hcurnan@gmail.com
Photos courtesy of Hoku Curnan
