In what will be the final two games before conference play, the Southern Utah University women’s basketball team will head to Los Angeles to face the University of Nebraska at Omaha on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 2 p.m. and Loyola Marymount University the next day at 3:30 p.m. as part of the LMU Christmas Tournament.
Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Southern Utah
After having a four-game winning streak, the Thunderbirds have come back down to Earth with two straight losses on the road and now hold a 7-4 record. Those losses were arguably the team’s worst shooting games so far as they shot under 30% from the field in the first and under 20% from three in the second.
Besides shooting, most statistics have remained stable over the last two games. SUU continues to heavily out-rebound, out-assist and out-block opponents while also taking more advantage of forced turnovers.
While SUU’s first game seems more trivial to win, their game against LMU will reveal any lingering shooting troubles. The Lions have shot 28.8% from three this season, so the T-Birds should already be aiming to surpass them from beyond the arc.
Omaha
The Mavericks have struggled to a 1-11 record this year and have been outscored by 28 points per game on average. While they have shown a strong rebounding ability, they’ve been outclassed in most other areas by opponents.
Omaha has nearly half as many assists, steals and blocks as opponents and commits nine more turnovers per game while allowing opponents to score 25 points per game from turnovers.
The Mavericks were being driven by forward Cora Olsen until she injured her foot, sidelining her for the remainder of the season. Olsen was leading the team in points and both shooting splits.Their active leading scorer is grad student guard Sarai Estupiñan, the only remaining player averaging double-digit points.
Loyola Marymount
The Lions are 5-4 to start the season with four wins in their last five games. All of their losses have been within seven points, with three of them being four-point games.
LMU’s main strength over their last five games has been their ability to rebound. They’ve grabbed over 35 in each of their last three games. This will be an important note for an SUU team that also likes to have a steady rebounding presence at the rim.
Loyola Marymount is led by guard Jess Lawson. The grad student leads the team in points and rebounds while ranking third in assists. The team also relies on Maya Hernandez, who is second in points and rebounds.
SUU is 3-3 against LMU all-time dating back to the 1990s and ‘80s, but has never faced the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Author: Payson Davis
Photographer: SUU Athletics
Editor: Jack Paul
