The women’s basketball team won its fourth consecutive Western Athletic Conference game in an 82-54 victory over Southern Utah University, improving to 5-1 in conference play and moving into a tie for first place.

The tie atop the WAC with California Baptist University gives the Wildcats rights to the tiebreaker with head-to-head going in favor of the Wildcats, 1-0.

“This was a pivotal week for us,” Head Coach Julie Goodenough said, having beaten the conference leader entering the week in CBU and the team tied with the Wildcats for second place in SUU.

The win was also the Wildcats 10th home win this season and their 15th consecutive win at home dating back to Feb. 6, 2025.

The victory was the third straight in which Meredith Mayes, junior center from Bixby, Oklahoma, did not play due to a right knee injury. Mayes was seen on the sideline with the team without crutches, but in a full leg brace.

“She brings a lot of intangibles to our program,” Goodenough said. “She has this huge spirit of hospitality. She’s a chameleon. She’s friends with everyone on the team… While she’s sidelined we expect her to be coaching her teammates up and really pouring into them as if she was out on the court.”

The 28-point win started slow for the Wildcats as they trailed by one at the end of the first quarter. In quarters two and three the ‘Cats outscored the ‘Birds by 26, lifting them to a 64-39 advantage with 10 minutes to play.

“We came out of the first quarter and knew we didn’t play to our ability,” Emma Troxell said. “We just got together and were like ‘OK right now. We’re starting now. We’re not letting them into this game.’”

WAC Preseason player of the year Payton Hull, junior guard from Peaster, led the Wildcats with 21 points while Erin Woodson, junior guard from Richmond, Virginia, and Troxell, junior forward from Bushland, each scored 16 points. As a team, the Wildcats shot 6-of-10 from 3-point range and 52% from the field. 

The lopsided scoreboard early in the second half allowed for the Wildcats to dip into the bench.

Emma Daugherty, freshman forward from Summerville, South Carolina, saw a season high in minutes with 18, before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Daugherty ended the game with two points, three rebounds and an assist. In Thursday’s victory over CBU Daugherty logged 17 minutes and hauled in six rebounds while scoring two points.

“She followed up a really good performance Thursday with a really good performance today,” Goodenough said.

In the loss, Thunderbird center Brooklyn Fely led the team with 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting. Fely also recorded a tied-team-high eight rebounds.

The Wildcats will have a week between games before welcoming the Tarleton State University Texans back to Moody Coliseum on Saturday.

“I don’t think our bye could have fallen in a better spot,” Goodenough said. “We can purge all of our scouting reports. They all start to run together after a while.”

It will be the fourth game the Texans have played in Abilene, with the team having played in the ACU Christmas Classic tournament in December. The Texans will enter the game with a 1-2 record in Moody, most recently falling to the Wildcats on Jan. 8 by a score of 64-59.

“This is one of the teams we get two times at home,” Goodenough said. “We need to make the most of our home-court advantage.”