After a week-long break of no action, the Southern Utah University women’s basketball team returns home to host former member of the Western Athletic Conference Sam Houston State University on Monday, Dec. 16, at 6:30 p.m.
Southern Utah
With a tough non-conference schedule, it has been a struggle for the Thunderbirds. SUU is 1-9 to start the season and is winless against Division I teams. Southern Utah ranks No. 7 out of nine in both scoring offense and scoring defense in the WAC.
Guard Sydney Gandy is the only player for the Thunderbirds to average more than 10 points a game. The Graduate Student from Long Beach, California also leads the team with made three-pointers at 26, which is twice as many points as the next player on the team.
Defensively, Southern Utah has struggled from time to time. The Thunderbirds are allowing 73.7 points per game at a rate of 44.6%scored when defending from the field. As a team, Southern Utah is averaging 5.7 steals and 2.2 blocks per game. Gandy leads the team with 13 steals while Jaeden Brown is first on the squad with seven blocks.
Sam Houston
Since leaving the WAC after the 2022-23 season, Sam Houston State has been a part of Conference-USA. The Bearkats are 5-3 overall and 3-1 in their last four games. Sam Houston has strived in the first half of games, outscoring their opponents 286-205.
Sam Houston thrives on offense, thanks to three different girls averaging 10 or more points a game. Kaila Kelley leads the team in scoring, averaging 13 points per game. Forward Deborah Ogayemi is No. 2 on the team, adding 11.3 points a game, followed by Aysia Ward-Strong with 10 points per game.
Ward-Strong has continued to dominate on the defensive side as well, adding a team-high 31 steals in the year. One area Sam Houston State lacks defensively is the rim protection. The Bearkats have tallied only 19 blocks on the season and have no player to record more than four.
Southern Utah is 1-0 all-time against Sam Houston.
Author: Jack Paul
Photographer: Gannon Lovisa
Copy editor: Isaac Allen
