Cardenas Leads Southern Utah to First #BigSkyWBB Championship Upset over Montana
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BOISE, Idaho (March 11, 2019) – Southern Utah opened on an 11-2 run and never trailed again to pull off the first upset of the Big Sky Championship with a 64-56 first round win over No. 7 seed Montana at CenturyLink Arena.
Ashley Larsen and Breanu Reid combined for 13 of Southern Utah’s 20 first quarter points in building a 20-11 advantage through 10 minutes of play.
Southern Utah (8-22) extended its lead to as many as 12 points in the second period en route to taking a 33-23 halftime lead on Montana (14-16).
The Thunderbirds kept the contest at least a two-possession game the entire second half.
“I’m proud of the girls. From the tip, I think they were ready to play,” said Southern Utah head coach Tracy Sanders. “They had great energy coming out. We did have some confidence coming in so I thought that definitely helped.”
Rebecca Cardenas led Southern Utah (8-22) with 18 points to lead four players in double figures. The 5-5 guard also added 14 rebounds to pace the Thunderbirds to a 51-37 advantage on the glass.
“Rebounding was our key to the game,” Cardenas said. “We wanted it more so I think that’s why we crashed so hard. We really wanted this game and we knew every rebound counted.”
Sammy Fatkin led the Lady Griz with 13 points while Jace Henderson added a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds in her final game for Montana.
Southern Utah moves on to Tuesday's quarterfinals to face No. 2 seed Northern Colorado at 5:30 p.m.