Lady Badgers avenge loss to Price with 66-65 win, then fall to Colorado Northwestern
Matt Harris
Staff writer
2-2-2017
EPHRAIM—The Lady Badgers experienced the best of times and the worst of times one after the other last week.
Snow College’s women’s basketball team got a quality break when a last-second shot saved the Lady Badgers game in Price against Utah State-Eastern last Thursday, but good times only lasted so long as Snow followed up with a hapless 64-54 loss to bottom-ranked Colorado Northwestern last Saturday.
The Lady Badgers were close to the edge against USU-Eastern when freshman Siki Suguturaga’s last great shot sank.
As the game began, playing in front of a host of Golden Eagles supporters, Snow played with intensity in a back and forth game against USU-Eastern and had the initial upper hand, leading after the first quarter, 22-15. The Lady Eagles battled back in the second and took a 32-28 lead into halftime after a smothering defensive effort.
In the second half, Snow slowly battled back, inch by inch, to keep pace with USU-Eastern, but the Golden Eagles held their largest lead of the game at six with just under three minutes left to play.
A few good series put the Lady Badgers down by a single point. On an inbounds pass, freshman forward Siki Suguturaga pulled in the pass and laid up a quick fadeaway as time expired, sinking it for the win, 66-65.
“Siki was definitely a bright spot,” Russell said. “She was definitely the one we wanted to have the ball in the end. In the end, it was a broken play, and Siki ended up making something out of nothing. It was a clutch play.”
The final shot capped off a double-double for Suguturaga, who finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Madison Mooring led all scorers with 15 points, while freshmen Lindsay Cook and Harley Hansen scored 12 and 11 points, respectively. Turnovers played a big role in the Lady Badgers’ win, as eight steals contributed to 21 points off turnovers for the game.
In the loss against Colorado Northwestern, head coach Mike Russell said, “From the very onset of the game our players were flat and played with no emotion. Whether this was a result of coming off such an emotional game Thursday evening, I’m not sure, but our effort and execution were not where it should be.”
For much of the game, Snow was toe to toe with the visiting Lady Spartans, even going up by 13 midway through the third quarter. The rest of the second half went the way of Colorado Northwestern, who outscored the Lady Badgers by a collective 45-28 in the second half to seal Snow’s fate.
Snow could get nothing done on offense, shooting only 27 percent for the game and only getting a collective 20 points out of their starters. Backup first-year students led the Lady Badgers as Kayla Hugie and Jasmine Chavez each scored 12 points.
“There’s really no explanation for this game other than CNCC played much harder, executed much better, and wanted the win way more than our kids,” Russell said.
The Lady Badgers played against Southern Idaho last Tuesday, and they will face No. 6-ranked Salt Lake at home this Saturday at 3 p.m.
