In the final game of the season before the Western Athletic Conference tournament, the Southern Utah University women’s basketball team ended a disappointing road trip against California Baptist University. The T-Birds fell behind early and weren’t able to mount a comeback, losing 77-61 against the Lancers on Saturday, March 7.
Standings update
With the loss, SUU finished the season with a 19-11 record. They lost the last three games of the season after winning eight of their previous nine games. They went 11-7 in conference play and will hold the No. 3 seed in the WAC Tournament.
On Thursday, March 12, they’ll face off against either Utah Tech University or the University of Texas at Arlington. If they win that game, they’ll face Abilene Christian University to decide who gets to go to the championship game.
SUU had a chance to reach 20 wins on the season for the third time in program history, but fell just short. They’ll use the next few days to prepare and reset as they make a push for their second-ever March Madness appearance.
California Baptist finishes the season with a 21-10 record. They went 15-3 in conference play, ended the year on a four-game winning streak and will hold the No. 1 seed in the WAC Tournament. They won the season series against every conference opponent and have won their third-straight regular season conference title.
First quarter
CBU started the game with seven straight points from guard Chance Bucher. The grad student from Half Moon Bay, Calif., had 19 points this game, her highest total since the first game of the season.
Brooklyn Fely broke SUU’s scoring drought and Sierra Chambers hit a three soon after, but the Lancers hovered around a seven-point lead for the next few minutes. Ava Uhrich scored six points in a row for the T-Birds, but the team couldn’t make much leeway as CBU traded baskets with them. CBU led 26-16 after 10 minutes.
Second quarter
Both teams went on a cold stretch to start the period. In the first four minutes, SUU shot 0-6, including one three-point attempt, and CBU shot 0-4, all from three-point range.
CBU scored the first two baskets before Fely once again snapped the streak with a layup for SUU. Over the next two and a half minutes, the teams combined for 12 missed shots. SUU wasn’t able to take advantage of the lull in offense, and the teams traded shots again to end the half. The Lancers held a 44-31 lead going into the locker room.
Third quarter
During the third quarter, the game quickly began to look like it had slipped out of reach for SUU. CBU’s lead never eclipsed 18 points, but was never lower than 12 either.
While SUU struggled from three all night, this quarter was their worst. They went 1-7 from deep, with the lone made shot coming from Uhrich at the halfway point of the period. SUU trailed 66-49 going into the final quarter
Fourth quarter
CBU scored the first six points of the quarter while Fely scored SUU’s first bucket after more than four minutes. The Lancers then fired back immediately with a three-pointer to get a 24-point lead.
California Baptist’s advantage stayed above 20 for almost the entire quarter. SUU did end the game on a 5-0 run, but it was all for naught. They fell to the Lancers 77-61.
Key stats
— CBU got 24 points from their bench players while SUU had just four, all in the second half.
— CBU scored 14 points off turnovers compared to SUU’s four.
— SUU shot 32.3 % from the field, 21.7% from three and 14-20 from the free-throw line. CBU shot 46.4% from the field and 35.5% from three, but only went 2-8 from the free-throw line.
— CBU had nine steals and three blocks while SUU had five blocks and two steals.
Top T-Birds
— Uhrich finished with 22 points, 15 rebounds, an assist and a steal. It was her tenth double-double of the year.
— Despite three-point shooting troubles, Chambers had 15 points, five rebounds and a team-leading three assists.
— Fely had 13 points, four rebounds and three assists.
— Kortney Doman posted seven rebounds, three blocks, two points and a steal.
What’s next?
SUU will head to Las Vegas for the WAC Tournament this week. They will face the winner of the matchup between Utah Tech and UT Arlington. That game will be on Thursday, March 12, at 2:30 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
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Author: Payson Davis
Photographer: SUU Athletics