2023–24 Southern Utah Thunderbirds women's basketball team

The 2023–24 Southern Utah Thunderbirds women's basketball team represented Southern Utah University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Thunderbirds, who were led by sixth-year head coach Tracy Mason, played their home games at America First Event Center in Cedar City, Utah as members of the Western Athletic Conference.

2023–24 Southern Utah Thunderbirds women's basketball
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Record	8–22 (6–14 WAC)
Head coach	Tracy Mason (6th season)
Associate head coach	Allyson Fasnacht
Assistant coaches	Jay Johnson Hailey Mandelko-Ferry
Home arena	America First Event Center
Seasons ← 2022–23 2024–25 →

2023–24 WAC women's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
California Baptist †	18	–	2		.900			28	–	4		.875
Grand Canyon	16	–	4		.800			24	–	8		.750
Stephen F. Austin	14	–	6		.700			21	–	12		.636
Utah Tech*	12	–	8		.600			18	–	14		.563
UT Arlington	11	–	9		.550			17	–	16		.515
Abilene Christian	10	–	10		.500			14	–	16		.467
Tarleton State*	7	–	13		.350			12	–	20		.375
Seattle	6	–	14		.300			6	–	23		.207
Southern Utah	6	–	14		.300			8	–	22		.267
UT Rio Grande Valley	5	–	15		.250			6	–	23		.207
Utah Valley	5	–	15		.250			10	–	19		.345
* Ineligible for the 2024 NCAA tournament due to transition from Division II
† 2024 WAC tournament winner

Previous season

The Thunderbirds finished the 2022–23 season 23–10, 16–2 in WAC play to finish as WAC regular season champions.^[1] They defeated New Mexico State,^[2] Grand Canyon,^[3] and California Baptist in the WAC tournament to send the Thunderbirds to their first NCAA tournament appearance in program history.^[4] They received the #14 seed in the Greenville 1 Region,^[5] where they would fall to #3 region seed Notre Dame in the first round.^[6]

Roster

2023–24 Southern Utah Thunderbirds women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 1 Alexa Lord 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) GS Richfield High School Richfield, Utah C 3 Megan Smith 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) GS Utah Valley Castle Dale, Utah G 4 Aishah Anis 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Jr Launceston Church Grammar School Launceston, Tasmania G 5 Charli Kay 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Fr Marist Regional College Smithton, Tasmania G 10 Maria Garcia 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Fr FC Barcelona Bàsquet Barcelona, Spain C 13 Ashley Banks 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) So Boise High School Boise, Idaho G 22 Daylani Ballena 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Sr Kentridge High School Kent, Washington G 23 Shiho Isono 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Jr Western Nebraska Fukuoka, Japan F 24 Jaeden Brown 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Jr Utah Valley Draper, Utah G 30 Alexandra Eldredge 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr Worcester Academy McLean, Virginia G 34 Samantha Johnston 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Sr Cedar High School Cedar City, Utah F 44 Ava Uhrich 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Fr Pinewood School Burlingame, California	Head coach Tracy Mason (Saint Mary's) Assistant coach(es) Allyson Fasnacht (Liberty) Jay Johnson (Saint Mary's) Hailey Mandelko-Ferry (Southern Utah) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: June 4, 2024

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 8, 2023* 6:30 pm, ESPN+		Eastern Washington	L 77–86	0–1	America First Event Center (740) Cedar City, UT
November 10, 2023* 6:30 pm, ESPN+		Western Kentucky WAC/C-USA Challenge	L 62–76	0–2	America First Event Center (653) Cedar City, UT
November 15, 2023* 6:30 pm, ESPN+		Alaska	W 72–58	1–2	America First Event Center (303) Cedar City, UT
November 19, 2023* 3:00 pm, ESPN+		at UC Santa Barbara	L 61–71	1–3	The Thunderdome (381) Santa Barbara, CA
November 28, 2023 6:30 pm, ESPN+		California Baptist	L 66–79	1–4 (0–1)	America First Event Center (445) Cedar City, UT
December 2, 2023 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Seattle	W 83–56	2–4 (1–1)	America First Event Center (341) Cedar City, UT
December 5, 2023* 5:30 pm, ESPN+		at Texas A&M–Commerce	L 67–73	2–5	University Field House (345) Commerce, TX
December 7, 2023* 7:00 pm, MW Network		at New Mexico	W 58–40	3–5	The Pit (4,526) Albuquerque, NM
December 16, 2023* 5:00 pm, ESPN+		No. 11 Utah	L 60–96	3–6	America First Event Center (715) Cedar City, UT
December 21, 2023* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Northern Arizona	L 70–81	3–7	America First Event Center (452) Cedar City, UT
December 30, 2023* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at UTEP	L 62–89	3–8	Don Haskins Center (1,307) El Paso, TX
January 4, 2024 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Grand Canyon	L 60–78	3–9 (1–2)	Global Credit Union Arena (467) Phoenix, AZ
January 6, 2024 5:00 pm, ESPN+		Utah Valley	W 71–58	4–9 (2–2)	America First Event Center (493) Cedar City, UT
January 13, 2024 1:00 pm, ESPN+		at Stephen F. Austin	L 53–68	4–10 (2–3)	William R. Johnson Coliseum (1,116) Nacogdoches, TX
January 18, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Utah Tech	L 71–78	4–11 (2–4)	Burns Arena (940) St. George, UT
January 20, 2024 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at California Baptist	L 67–93	4–12 (2–5)	Fowler Events Center (478) Riverside, CA
January 25, 2024 6:30 pm, ESPN+		Tarleton State	L 60–71	4–13 (2–6)	America First Event Center (1,145) Cedar City, UT
January 27, 2024 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Abilene Christian	W 82–80	5–13 (3–6)	America First Event Center (345) Cedar City, UT
February 1, 2024 5:00 pm, ESPN+		at UT Arlington	L 59–85	5–14 (3–7)	College Park Center (1,290) Arlington, TX
February 3, 2024 1:00 pm, ESPN+		at UT Rio Grande Valley	W 68–65 OT	6–14 (4–7)	UTRGV Fieldhouse (546) Edinburg, TX
February 8, 2024 6:30 pm, ESPN+		Utah Tech	L 77–87	6–15 (4–8)	America First Event Center (765) Cedar City, UT
February 10, 2024 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Grand Canyon	L 61–77	6–16 (4–9)	America First Event Center (354) Cedar City, UT
February 15, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Seattle	L 71–75	6–17 (4–10)	Redhawk Center (294) Seattle, WA
February 17, 2024 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Utah Valley	W 67–66 2OT	7–17 (5–10)	UCCU Center (689) Orem, UT
February 21, 2024 6:30 pm, ESPN+		UT Arlington	L 70–78	7–18 (5–11)	America First Event Center (417) Cedar City, UT
February 29, 2024 5:00 pm, ESPN+		at Abilene Christian	L 42–75	7–19 (5–12)	Moody Coliseum (1,023) Abilene, TX
March 2, 2024 1:00 pm, ESPN+		at Tarleton State	L 63–69	7–20 (5–13)	Wisdom Gym (1,111) Stephenville, TX
March 7, 2024 6:30 pm, ESPN+		Stephen F. Austin	L 74–81	7–21 (5–14)	America First Event Center (480) Cedar City, UT
March 9, 2024 2:00 pm, ESPN+		UT Rio Grande Valley	W 65–52	8–21 (6–14)	America First Event Center (485) Cedar City, UT
WAC tournament
March 13, 2024 1:00 pm, ESPN+	(8)	vs. (5) UT Arlington First round	L 53–67	8–22	Orleans Arena (–) Paradise, NV
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain.

Sources:^[7][8]

References

1. "2022-23 Women's Basketball Standings". Western Athletic Conference. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
2. "1-handed 3-pointer at buzzer lifts SUU women to WAC tourney win over New Mexico State". St. George News. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
3. "Southern Utah knocks out GCU". Grand Canyon University Athletics. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
4. "Southern Utah Women Win First NCAA Tournament Berth". KSL Sports. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
5. "2023 Division I Women's Basketball Official Bracket". NCAA.com. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
6. "Notre Dame women beat Southern Utah 82-56 in March Madness". AP News. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
7. "2023-24 Women's Basketball Schedule". Southern Utah University Athletics. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
8. "Southern Utah Thunderbirds 2023-24 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved June 4, 2024.