Otahkians miss out on upset in opener vs. Utah

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah -- Southeast Missouri State University's women's basketball team made its first appearance in the Preseason NIT memorable with a near-upset of No. 19 Utah on Friday.

The Otahkians ran the nationally ranked Utes all over the court in the first half of a 76-65 season-opening loss. Southeast forced Utah into several early turnovers and trailed by only a point, 37-36, at halftime.

Southeast (0-1) took a 38-37 lead in the first minute of the second half. The Otahkians' Yashika Sidbury made a steal on Utah's next possession and hit a 3-pointer to give the Otahkians their biggest lead, 41-37.

Utah (1-0), the nation's top defensive team last season, did not have an answer to Southeast's pesky defense early in the second half. But sophomore Shona Thorburn, a member of the Canadian National team, brought Utah back. She scored 19 of her game-high 24 points in the second half.

Southeast finally coughed up the lead about midway through the second half, but the Otahkians still only trailed 61-60 with just over eight minutes remaining.

"With eight minutes to go I thought we had them right where we wanted them," Southeast coach B.J. Smith said.

Thorburn's 3-pointer with about five minutes remaining pushed the lead up to 64-60 and sparked an 11-0 run. The Utes held Southeast Missouri without a point for nearly six minutes down the stretch.

Kim Smith, another Canadian National team member, added 17 points and nine rebounds for Utah.

Freshman guard Jessica Aebi led Southeast with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Kenja White had 11 points, and Chandra Brown added eight points and six rebounds before fouling out. Brandi Russia led the Otahkians with five assists.

"Our kids battled," Smith said. "I thought we did a lot of things well. We should have won."