Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
LAS VEGAS — Southern Utah women's basketball team won more games than any other team in the Western Athletic Conference, produced the league's leading rebounder in Lizzy Williamson (10.0), and had the No. 2 scorer in Cherita Daugherty (18.1).
But when it came time for the postseason, the Thunderbirds took the No. 2 seed into the WAC Tournament due to the conference's newly installed resume seeding system.
How's this for a resume.
Daugherty scored 26 points, eight rebounds and three assists to lead five players in double figures as Southern Utah led throughout en route to a 82-73 win over California Baptist in Saturday's tournament title game at Orleans Arena.
"To win the regular season and then come in and win the conference tournament is a really hard thing to do," said Daugherty, who saved the Thunderbirds' season with a miraculous game-winner in their first postseason game against New Mexico State and didn't need anything close to it Saturday. "I think we've been tested a lot as a team, and to come out on the other side is really special."
Moments after the confetti fell on the Thunderbirds' first WAC title — the first conference tournament title since playing in the makeshift American West Conference in 1995 and 1996 — Daugherty was surrounded by hordes of adoring fans. Friends. Family. Teammates. Everyone wanted a piece of the star guard playing in the final postseason of her electric collegiate career, one that averaged 12.6 points and 3.3 assists over 86 games in three years, and for good reason.
The junior college transfer has been beloved by her adopted community in Cedar City, and when the throngs of SUU fans poured in Orleans Arena — making a decidedly pro-Thunderbirds crowd clad in red-and-black, leaving only a sliver of blue-clad GCU supporters — she could feel it.
"The fans out there were crazy; it felt like a home game," Daugherty said. "The support that our community shows, our fans love us like we're family, our coaches are one big family. It makes it super special."
Williamson added 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Megan Jensen had 12 points, five rebounds and three assists for the Thunderbirds. Tomekia Whitman had 12 points and 11 rebounds and Daylani Ballena scored 14 for Southern Utah (23-9), which punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament in the program's first conference tournament final since 1996.
Chloe Webb scored 21 points to lead California Baptist (19-13), which played in its first WAC Tournament final since becoming eligible for the NCAA Tournament after transitioning from Division II (the Lancers won the 2021 tournament, but went to the NIT due to reclassification restrictions). But the Thunderbirds had something to prove and let the Lancers know it early.
Daugherty had 6 points in the first six minutes as the Thunderbirds converted on 7-of-11 shot attempts and en route to an 18-9 lead before CBU's press inched the Lancers back within four, 21-17, after the first quarter.
Southern Utah never let CBU get comfortable the rest of the way, leading by as much as 13 in the wire-to-wire win. The Lancers pulled within a single digits a few times, but the Thunderbirds always had an answer. Jensen under the basket. Whitman from deep. Ballena in transition.
It was pick your poison for CBU. But more often than not, that poison came through Daugherty.
"I just trust her 100%," said Jensen said, the focal point of Southern Utah's attack in 64-51 win over GCU on Friday. "It's really fun; we know when she has the ball, you can see it on her face. She's got it, we all believe in her, and there's nothing more that I need."
Daugherty is the closer, but more than anything, she hates losing. Her long road to Southern Utah ended in a championship because she refused to lose, even when she sat down with her coach after a road game and sit it out loud.
"I was like, 'I'm with you, OK,'" recalled Sanders, the WAC Coach of the Year. "But that's just her; she's such a humble player, and we've really asked her to step up this year and taking a little bit more of the scoring load. She just loves to do things for other people, but seeing her take that role has been great to see. She's unstoppable; when she's in that zone, she's unstoppable."
Getting out of that humility zone was an effort in coaching, too. After spending two years at Lower Columbia College just 40 minutes from her hometown in Vancouver, Washington, Daugherty started all but three games of her 82-game SUU career. But she wasn't the primary scoring option until this season, when the graduate senior averaged 15.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.
She was almost too unselfish, Sanders admits. So when the buzzer had sounded and the Thunderbirds' 5-foot-10 guard was blushing as her teammates pushed her onto the makeshift stage at Orleans Arena midcourt to receive the tournament most outstanding player award, the chants of "M-V-P! M-V-P!" that came from the crowd and her teammates were extra special.
"She's carried us on her shoulders," Sanders said. "She's going out like a senior who knew it was her senior year, and I think she's played every game like that."
WAC All-Tournament Team
- Most Outstanding Player: Cherita Daugherty, SUU
- Megan Jensen, SUU
- Tomekia Whitman, SUU
- Chloe Webb, CBU
- Sila Finau, CBU
