Southern Utah women stun BYU

PROVO — If not for the midcourt celebration midcourt by the Southern Utah women's basketball team following its 72-70 upset of host BYU, Tuesday night's affair at the Marriott Center would have resulted in one long face after another.

The cause for celebration was multifold, not the least being the Thunderbirds' game-winning shot by Sarah Hutton, a multi-sport standout from Orem's Timpanogos High. Add to that the fact that SUU hadn't beaten BYU in seven years and hadn't won in Provo for a decade and a half. Plus, the T-Birds' 9-2 mark makes for the best start in the program's history.

The long faces belonged to the 6-4 Cougars and coach Jeff Judkins, who called the loss "my worst of my career" and blasted his players, saying "this team does not care, and it has proven it during the season . . .

"I'm disappointed in some players who need to step it up," he added, singling out Danielle Cheesman and Ambrosia Anderson by name and indicting all the rest of the players "except for a couple" who he said he may start playing the full 40 minutes of upcoming games if necessary.

Said Cheesman: "We're just not transferring what we do in practices to our games. You come to practices and you'll see we're really intense."

Even SUU coach Joe Hillock played a bit of the Grinch Tuesday night. "I hate Christmas," he said. "They go home and kiss all the nieces and nephews and get sick — they get running noses . . . and we lose our rhythm."

Guard Cyrita Warner scored a career-high 17 points to lead the T-Birds. Hutton and Lacey Yates added 12 each and Shauntel Garrett 11.

Cheesman and Julie Sullivan led BYU with 15 each, with Nancy Seljaas contributing 11. But the Cougars shot just 34.8 percent from the field and 55.6 from the line.

The two teams battled to a 37-37 draw through the first half — with Hutton scoring 10 points as the T-Birds shot 53.8.

BYU's first-half shooting woes continued early in the second half — at one point, BYU was 3-of-9 from the line. Warner hit four FTs and a 3-pointer to give SUU a 9-0 run and a 46-39 lead in the first five minutes of the half.

Down 51-44 with 13:30 remaining, the Cougars went on a 20-5 run — including a pair of five-point surges each from Sullivan and Cheesman — to take a 64-56 lead with 8:03 left. But BYU managed just six points the rest of the way, missing plenty of shots and five of its last six FT attempts.

Garrett's putback at 0:33.3 seconds drew the T-Birds even at 70. Sullivan missed a jumper in the lane with a dozen seconds remaining, giving SUU plenty of time.

SUU's designed play had Casey Cooke come off a screen from sister Katy Cooke, but Hutton ended up with the ball and a game-winning heave from the right wing with 2.7 seconds left.

"Not bad for a volleyball player — and we don't have a volleyball team," quipped Hillock.

Next up for BYU is a 7 p.m. Saturday home game against San Francisco. SUU opens Mid-Con Conference play with three straight league games at home, starting with Oral Roberts on Monday.

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