The Southern Utah University women’s basketball team will play conference opponents Grand Canyon University and Utah Valley University. The Thunderbirds will first visit the Lopes on Thursday, Jan. 4, at 6:00 p.m. before hosting the Wolverines on Saturday, Jan. 6, at 5:00 p.m. Both games can be streamed through ESPN+.
Grand Canyon
The Lopes will be a tough test for Southern Utah. They enter the week with a 10-3 overall record and are 2-0 in WAC play. GCU has won two games in a row as well as eight of their last nine matchups.
Throughout the first 13 games of the season, Grand Canyon has held its opponents to just 54.9 points per game, good for 34th among all Division I teams. GCU is also ranked No. 57 in steals per game with 10.2.
The leader of the Lopes’ defense is junior guard Trinity San Antonio. She leads the team in steals per game with 2.3 and is also the top scorer with 11.9 points. GCU has three players averaging double-digit points this season, the other two being junior guard Naudia Evans with 10.8 points and senior Tiarra Brown at 10.2 points.
Utah Valley
The Wolverines hold an overall record of 5-6 and are 0-2 in the WAC. They sit in the midst of a three-game losing streak as they look to get back on the winning track.
UVU ranks 293rd out of 348 DI teams with just 58.3 points per game. They also convert on just 37.4% of their field goal attempts, ranking them 290th in the nation.
Utah Valley makes up for its lack of offense with a solid defense. Allowing just 58.8 points per game, they rank 77th in all of DI and second in the WAC, only trailing Grand Canyon. UVU does not have any double-digit scorers, as their leading scorer Kaylee Byon averages 8.4 points.
Second in scoring for the Wolverines is Kylee Mabry, averaging 7.6 points along with a team-leading 2.6 steals. The anchor of the defense, sophomore center Tessa Chaney, leads the team in blocks with one per game and in rebounds with 6.5. She also adds 5.3 points per game for UVU.
Southern Utah
The Thunderbirds enter the week with a record of 3-8 overall and 1-1 in Western Athletic Conference play. SUU is currently on a four-game losing streak and will be looking to turn things around.
Center graduate student Megan Smith leads SUU by averaging 16.2 points and 6.3 rebounds on 55% from the floor. She is also averaging just under two blocks per game. Freshman standout Ava Uhrich has also made a big impact for the Thunderbirds, having scored double-digits in eight of their 11 games.
Author: Brig Pyfer
Photographer: Anden Garfield
Editor: Anden Garfield
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