Despite going into the fourth quarter tied and taking a late lead, the Southern Utah University women’s basketball team suffered another heartbreaking road loss, this time to the Sacramento State Hornets, 87-82 on Jan. 18.
Senior point guard Rebecca Cardenas notched her first double-double of the season, scoring 19 points and dishing out a career high 12 assists in the loss. She also moved into sole possession of third place in all-time assists at SUU with 424.
The T-Birds closed the first quarter with a 22-21 lead, but fell behind in the second quarter. The team was outscored 25-20 and found themselves down 46-39 at the half.
Freshman forward Shalyn Fano started a T-Bird run in the third quarter with six early points to cut the Hornets’ lead to three at the 7:48 mark. By the end of the quarter, the T-Birds had tied the game at 63.
Harley closing the gap!
She has 20 points and we are only in the 3rd quarter! pic.twitter.com/Jy2IKQ7q2x
— SUU W. Basketball 🏀 (@SUUWBasketball) January 18, 2020
Cardenas and fellow senior guard Harley Hansen helped the T-Birds take a 76-71 lead with just over four minutes left, but Hornets refused to quit. A 3-pointer from senior guard Camariah King gave her team a 77-76 lead with less than two minutes in the game.
The T-Birds were forced to foul when their offense went cold, and Sacramento State would go on to win the game on free throws.
Hansen was the star of the game for the T-Birds scoring 16 points in the first half including five made 3-pointers. She finished the game with 25 points. Fano pitched in 12 points of her own while shooting 4-8 from three point range.
THIS GIRL IS ON FIREEEE 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/eoT2OQ0XvR
— SUU W. Basketball 🏀 (@SUUWBasketball) January 18, 2020
The Hornets had three different players score in double figures. King, Kennedy Nicholas and Tiana Johnson scored 21, 24 and 24 points, respectively. Nicholas also picked up 17 rebounds in her team’s victory.
The loss leaves the T-Birds at 8-7 overall and 2-4 in Big Sky Conference play at mid point of the season. The Hornets moved to 4-12 overall and 2-5 in conference play.
The T-Birds will take on Eastern Washington University (2-13, 1-5) Saturday, Jan. 25 at 2 p.m. in the America First Events Center.
Story by: Kurt Meacham
kurtleymeacham@gmail.com
Photo by: Shaun Holkko – The State Hornet
