In a stunner of a game, the Southern Utah University women’s basketball team edged out a win in a matchup against conference No. 2 Abilene Christian University. SUU pulled away from the back-and-forth game on Saturday, Jan. 31 with a 71-68 home victory.
The Thunderbirds were led by Brooklyn Fely, who totaled 26 points and 17 rebounds. It was a great duel against ACU’s Payton Hull and her 21 points.
With the win, SUU still sits at No. 3 in the conference. They have an overall record of 15-7 and a 7-3 conference standing. Abilene Christian fell to 15-6 with a 6-2 conference record.
First quarter
Right off the bat, Devyn Kiernan came in hot with a layup, starting the scoring for the two dueling schools. It wasn’t long after that ACU came back to match Kiernan’s basket.
The Thunderbirds continued with energy to put the lead up 10-7 against ACU with five minutes in the quarter, but ACU tried fighting back with an early full court press. Nonetheless, Sierra Chambers hit a crucial three pointer with two minutes left in the quarter to keep the T-Birds in the game.
Second quarter
The SUU offense really heated up in the second quarter. Fely started the quarter with a layup to tie the match at 18-18.
As the quarter went on, Fely and Kortney Doman continued to generate points. Fely had 17 in the first half and Doman poured in seven points in the final two minutes of the quarter. The T-birds had a 10-point lead at half.
ACU continued to play aggressively but couldn’t knock down their shots, going 0-6 from three. Doman also had something to say about their scoring, with a huge block to close out the quarter.
Third quarter
Coming out of half up by 10, the Thunderbirds struggled to get the engine going. ACU started to roll offensively and heavily relied on Hull and Erin Woodson. They kept driving to the paint to score the majority of the Wildcats’ points.
SUU’s first bucket of the quarter came at the seven-minute mark from Chambers with a cut-in layup.
The scoring gap squeezed much closer as the clock ticked down, with the Thunderbirds down five points with only two minutes to go. At that point, Fely had racked up 12 rebounds and Hull had four offensive boards due to lack of accuracy from both teams.
The Thunderbirds finished the quarter leading 55-51 with a hard-fought effort.
Fourth quarter
As Fely kept showing her presence throughout the game, she decided to top all highlights with a mind-blowing block to set the tone of the final period. Shortly after, Chambers hit two free throws to get the offense rolling again.
Kiernan hit a significant three-pointer with seven minutes left in the quarter. ACU kept clawing back, shrinking the deficit to one with six minutes to go.
ACU’s Natalia Chavez also scored a majority of her 14 points alongside co-stars Hull and Woodson through reverse layups down by the basket.
With less then a minute left and SUU up by two, the Wildcats struggled to keep the intensity composed. They sent Chambers to the stripe on three separate occasions, where she knocked down five of her six free throws. SUU led by five with 30 seconds to go.
Hull scored on a three-point play to cut the lead to two with 11 seconds, but sent the T-birds to the line shortly after to stop the clock. Chambers went one of two, and the Thunderbirds held on at the last buzzer to seal the win.
Top T-Birds
— Chambers posted 16 points, seven assists and a steal.
— Doman, along with Chambers, played all 40 minutes. She had seven points, three rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
— Fely showed out with an all-around masterclass. She led all players with 26 points, 17 rebounds and five offensive boards, also tacking on an assist, a block and a steal.
— Ava Uhrich had an impactful game, recording 14 points, six rebounds, four assists and a steal.
What’s next?
The Thunderbirds will be playing against Tarleton State University in Texas on February 7 at 1:00 pm. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
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Author: Mitch Wilson
Photographer: SUU Athletics
Editor: Payson Davis
