SUU WBB: Top-5 Moments of 2022-23 Per Players and Media
SUU women’s basketball has been no stranger to postseason tournaments since the arrival of head coach Tracy Sanders in 2018. In their inaugural season as a Western Athletic Conference member, it was no different. SUU won the WAC Tournament to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The comeback kids were led by Cherita Daugherty, Daylani Ballena, Megan Jensen, Lizzy Williamson, Samantha Johnston and Tomekia Whitman. Sanders had a good mixture of youth and leadership that made an impact off the bench. The combination led SUU to its first 20-win season since 2013-2014. The Thunderbirds first NCAA Tournament appearance followed. It would not be possible without Coach of the Year Tracy Sanders, Defensive Player of the Year Lizzy Williamson, Sixth Woman of the Year Tomekia Whitman and All-WAC First Team Cherita Daugherty — just to name a couple of their awards.
One thing that the staff harped on all year was that the team needed to put together a full 40 minutes. However, even with that as their Achilles heel, the Thunderbirds punched a ticket to the NCAA Tournament against the University of Notre Dame. This concern held true against the Fighting Irish. SUU was outscored 27-10 in the first quarter and it was enough. SUU broke even or outscored Notre Dame in nearly every other quarter.
There were not many people outside of Cedar City that believed that they could compete for a top spot in the WAC. It was something that added fuel to the fire. SUU started their season 2-0 with a win over New Mexico in Cedar City. However, it was followed by seven losses in their next nine games. The losses came to Gonzaga, Oregon, Colorado and Utah.
It was not a perfect season by any means, before conference play. Tomekia Whitman endured an injury that cost her 13 games, most being non-conference games. The Thunderbirds entered conference play 4-7. But, SUU won nine straight to open WAC play before a loss to UT Arlington on Feb. 6. Sitting at 13-8 overall and 9-1 in WAC play in early February was big for the T-Birds.
Following that loss, the T-Birds only lost two more games the entire season, including the NCAA Tournament, ending with a 23-10 record.
For SUU’s top-5 moments, I was able to get Samantha Johnston, Tomekia Whitman and Daylani Ballena to make a collaborative list of their own. We also have a top-5 made in collaboration with some other media and athletic department members at SUU. Believe it or not, the team and media put together an identical top-3.
1 – Cherita Daugherty’s Game Winner against NMSU at WAC Vegas
This one was obvious, right? How can you not go with the most unorthodox shot you’ll ever see that basically propelled SUU to the NCAA Tournament? If you look at their next games, it seemed like they were on cruise-control. They beat Grand Canyon University by a commanding 13 points and wrapped WACLasVegas up with a nine point victory over California Baptist University.
“I wish I could say it was a shot,” stated Daugherty. “I just threw it up and hoped. I wish I could say it was a shot but I don’t know.”
The shot was seen across the college basketball, SportsCenter for Scott Van Pelt's “best thing he's seen today” and even made Sports Illustrated Top-5.
2 – Making the NCAA Tournament
Sam, Dayla and Tomekia said, “Dancing on the court after winning the tourney.” I don’t think I could put it in better words. Everyone who had been there all season could say they were a part of SUU WBB history. It was their first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and was their goal year prior. Just four seasons prior the Thunderbirds finished with eight wins, but took a step forward year-in and year-out.
Here is the team, donors, media and fans on Selection Sunday.
3 – Securing the WAC Regular Season Championship
The Thunderbirds closed the season out with two crucial home games. A win against CBU would secure a share of the regular season title and they could secure it outright against GCU. That is exactly what they did.
As a fan and reporter, we always look at a player's performance or play in a game and the performance that propelled SUU past CBU was Tomekia’s 25 points and nine rebounds. You can't forget about Lizzy Williamson six blocks, 14 points and 13 rebounds either.
Of course the Thunderbirds had to leave fans on the edge of their seats against GCU. If you have stayed up to date, you would know that SUU liked to make late game comebacks in almost every game. The Thunderbirds trailed GCU 49-39 at the start of the fourth quarter, but outscored the Lopes 32-14 to secure an eight point victory.
For the players, it was about celebrating yet another historical moment in SUU WBB history with Cedar City, fans, friends and family.
4 (Team) – Charter bus to Notre Dame
I thought this one was really cool to hear! Fans were able to catch a ride to Notre Dame with the team on gameday, and to see it be on the players top-5 is awesome. This pick really shows how much this team loves the fans and Cedar City Community.
4 (Media) – Megan Jensen Big Return to Orem
It is always fun to watch a player return to their former school and have a huge game. That is exactly what Megan Jensen did in her return to Orem against Utah Valley University. She scored 19 points, hauled in seven rebounds and dished out five assists. Megan went 7-9 from the field and 4-4 from the charity strip.
I’m sure it was one of those games where Megan wanted coach Sanders to run the game through her, which is basically what happened. Sam did a great job initiating the offense with 20 points and six assists, which Megan played off of very well.
[caption id="attachment_17360" align="alignnone" width="2560"]
Megan Jensen helped Southern Utah win the WAC one year after transferring from Utah Valley. Courtesy Western Athletic Conference.[/caption]
5 (Team) – Ashley Banks Breakout Game
In her second collegiate game ever, freshman center Ashley Banks had a career game against Benedictine University Mesa. She went off for 19 points and nine rebounds. I think the most impressive part that even the team forgot about is that she did this in only 13 minutes of play, which is pretty insane for a young player.
5 (Media) – Sweep Rival Utah Tech
You know we couldn’t go without mentioning Utah Tech dropping both games to SUU this season. The Trailblazers did have key injuries, but all teams did in conference play. This will be a great rivalry for years to come. UT has some talented youngsters coming in to pair with the experience they have on campus already. The same can be said for SUU. Even though Cherita graduated and Lizzy is at NC State, there is young talent ready to step in. We cannot forget about coach Sanders always finding overseas talent that can come and make an instant impact.
The future is bright for the SUU and UT WBB rivalry.
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