By: Keller Sherman
Featured Image Courtesy of Utah Valley Athletics
OREM, Utah — When Southern Utah makes the 210-mile trip up Interstate 15 to Orem Saturday afternoon, they will look to do more than just sweep the season series with the Wolverines. The Thunderbirds will also look to go a perfect 4-0 against its in-state opponents in the WAC. SUU has already beaten Utah Tech twice this year and defeated UVU last month in Cedar City. The Wolverines are entering this game with some momentum. They defeated the same UT-Arlington team that beat SUU on Monday by 64-53 in their last outing.
Last Time Out
The Thunderbirds outscored New Mexico State 39-19 in the 2nd half to complete that saw SUU trail by as much as 14 points on some occasions. The win helped the Thunderbirds stay a game ahead of Stephen F Austin for 1st place in the WAC standings ahead of their big showdown next Saturday. Cherita Daugherty exploded for 28 points while Lizzy Willamson recorded her eighth double-double of the season. Daugherty had 8 rebounds of her own as the team combined for 40 rebounds.
Homecoming
UVU will host a doubleheader on Saturday with the men’s Thunderbirds team also taking on the Wolverines later Saturday night. It is part of UVU’s homecoming week. Aside from that, it is also a homecoming for Megan Jensen. The Castle Dale, Utah native transferred down to SUU this past offseason and will face her old team in their building Saturday. There is sure to be some extra motivation on her part to take down her old team on the road. It is one of a handful of headlines ahead for this in-state rivalry showdown Saturday night.
Records Don’t Matter
The Wolverines enter this game 6-17 overall and 3-9 in WAC play. However, if the game between these two at the America First Event Center last month was any indication, records are null and void in rivalry games. That loss to SUU was part of an eight-game losing streak for UVU. They went 2-5 in between the meetings with the Thunderbirds, who enter having gone 6-1 since last playing the Wolverines. An exciting game is bound to be on deck Saturday.