Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Southern Utah
Hot Shooting Leads 'Cats Past SUU
11/19/2009 9:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
OGDEN, Utah -- The Weber State women's basketball team hit 13 three-point shots en route to a 78-41 win over Southern Utah on Field Trip Day at the Dee Events Center on Thursday afternoon.
"I thought that the effort and the tenacity on the defensive end set the tone for the game," said WSU head coach Carla Taylor. "I feel like the players really bought in and played hard five against the ball. From there, our defense became our best offense."
"When you can get transition baskets off your defense, you tend to get easier baskets," said Taylor. "We started to get easy shots with people in the flow of the offense. And that was what was nice. The shots we got were from our fast break, into our secondary break. And then things start to feel easy."
The 13 three-point baskets ties for 3rd most in school history and was just three shy of the all-time mark set in 2006 against Portland State. After the break, the Wildcats shot the ball at a 47 percent clip overall and was 69 percent from three-point range.
After missing their first 10 shots from the floor, the Wildcats hit 10 of their next 19 shots to finish the half with a 33-19 edge on the scoreboard.
Sarah Conner led the charge from three-point land, hitting 6 of 8 shots from behind the arc (and 7 of 9 overall) for a game-high 22 points. The senior guard also added three rebounds, two assists and three steals.
"If we come down and get into our offense and execute, someone will eventually get hot," said Conner. "We just need to stay patient and not get down on ourselves when shots aren't falling."
Caitlin Anderson scored 16 points and pulled down seven rebounds, while Tonya Schnibbe gave the 'Cats a third player in double figures with 10 points. Schnibbe also dished out a game-high 10 assists. Joey O'Neill grabbed a team-high eight rebounds for WSU, while Caela Mohre chipped in with seven assists.
The Thunderbirds were led by Challis Pascucci, who scored 14 points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Jadie Parsons added nine points and five boards for SUU.
Weber State hosted several local elementary and junior high schools for the game in an effort to promote physical education. Approximately 4,000 students were in attendance, giving the Wildcats a great home court environment.
"I don't think people understand the amount of energy that is generated by that many fans in the stands," said Taylor. "This is our one game in our home court that we get to play with 4,500 fans. When you have a great crowd, it just creates so much energy for your team. And this crowd really helped us today."
The Wildcats will look to continue their hot shooting as they travel to Reno, Nev. to take on the University of Nevada on Monday, Nov. 23 at 8:00 p.m. MDT.
