Southern Utah a No. 14 seed in first-ever women’s NCAA Tournament appearance, will play No. 3 Notre Dame

Trent Wood
·2 min read
Southern Utah University’s women’s basketball team reacts to being seeded No. 14 in the NCAA Tournament and drawing No. 3 Notre Dame on Sunday, March 12 2023.
Southern Utah University’s women’s basketball team reacts to being seeded No. 14 in the NCAA Tournament and drawing No. 3 Notre Dame on Sunday, March 12 2023. | SUU Athletics
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After defeating California Baptist Saturday in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) tournament championship game, Southern Utah’s women’s basketball team was guaranteed a berth in the NCAA Tournament, the first in program history.

The only thing that remained was to find out what seed the Thunderbirds would receive and who they would be playing.

Those questions have now been answered.

SUU was awarded the No. 14 seed in the Greenville Regional (1) on Sunday, and will play No. 3 seed Notre Dame (25-5).

“I’m just so excited for this team,” SUU head coach Tracy Sanders said in a media release. “We’ve worked really hard all season and it’s fun to see it all come together and to win the conference. I’m proud of our fight and excited to see what we do in the tournament.”

The NCAA Tournament berth marks only the second ever postseason run in SUU women’s basketball history.

SUU Athletics
SUU Athletics
SUU Athletics
SUU Athletics
SUU Athletics
SUU Athletics

The only other postseason trip for the program came in 1988 in the NAIA women’s basketball championships. Those Thunderbirds lost in the first round to No. 3 seed Arkansas Tech.

SUU was the best team in the WAC this season, finishing 23-9 overall, 16-2 in conference play, and it showed in the conference tournament.

Cherita Daugherty was named the WAC tournament’s most outstanding player after scoring 26 points and grabbing eight rebounds in the championship game.

She was joined on the All-Tournament team by teammates Megan Jensen (Emery High) and Tomekia Whitman.

Those three — plus Daylani Ballena — led the Thunderbirds this season, averaging double figures in point scored, with Daugherty at the front with an average of 15.3 points per game.

Lizzy Williamson barely missed out on joining the group, after averaging nearly a double-double this season with 9.8 points per game and 10.1 rebounds per game.

Other notable Thunderbirds include Cedar High’s own Samantha Johnston, who played the third most minutes per game of any SUU player this season, and Richfield High’s Alexa Lord, who played in all 32 games this year.