CEDAR CITY, Utah – The University of Idaho women's basketball team opened Big Sky Conference play with an 87-65 loss at Southern Utah.
 
Beyonce Bea got things going early for the Vandals, scoring 10 of her team-high 24 points in the first quarter. Both teams shot lights out in the opening ten minutes with Southern Utah holding a slight 25-22 edge.

 Bea added nine rebounds, three steals, two blocks and two assists.

"I'm really happy with (Bea's) play today," head coach Jon Newlee said. "I thought she did a great job coming out aggressively and confident, it was good to see her get going."

Bea shot 50 percent from the floor (8-16) and 3-5 from beyond the arc. But offensively the rest of the Vandals struggled to score. Idaho shot 32.3 percent from the field (20-62) and just 22.2 percent from three-point range (6-27).

'We had open looks, just couldn't get them to fall." Newlee said.

Southern Utah used a three-point barrage to break things open in the second quarter. Going 5 of 9 from downtown to take a 15-point lead at halftime.

Idaho started the third quarter on an 18-8 run to jump start a big quarter and cut the SUU lead to just three after thirty minutes of play. However, the offense went cold again, connecting on just 1 of 15 attempts in the final frame to allow SUU to outscore the Vandals 24-5 in the fourth and pull off their first win over Idaho since 1996.

Cherita Daugherty lead the Thunderbirds with 26 points and eight rebounds. SUU shot 52.9 percent from distance (9-17) and 52 percent from the floor (26-50).

"We lost (the game) defensively," Newlee said.  "We have to be able to keep people in front of us without fouling."

Four Vandal starters fouled out as the Thunderbirds shot 26 of 30 from the charity stripe.

The Vandals will head south to Austin, Texas to face the Texas Longhorns on Dec. 11. Tip-off from the Frank C. Erwin Jr. Special Events Center is set for 11 a.m.

NOTES

• Southern Utah out rebound Idaho 43-20.
• The Vandals forced 17 thunderbird turnovers but could only convert them into 12 points.  

 
Follow the Vandals all season long on Twitter and Instagram, @VandalsWBB and with the Voice of the Vandals, Doug Taylor, at GoVandals.com/Listen.