Southern Utah faces Abilene Christian on 3-game losing streak

Southern Utah Thunderbirds (4-18, 2-7 WAC) at Abilene Christian Wildcats (14-9, 3-5 WAC)

Abilene, Texas; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Southern Utah enters the matchup with Abilene Christian as losers of three games in a row.

The Wildcats have gone 6-6 at home. Abilene Christian ranks eighth in the WAC with 21.4 defensive rebounds per game led by Bella Earle averaging 5.0.

The Thunderbirds have gone 2-7 against WAC opponents. Southern Utah averages 16.5 turnovers per game and is 2-3 when turning the ball over less than opponents.

Abilene Christian scores 72.4 points per game, 2.5 more points than the 69.9 Southern Utah gives up. Southern Utah has shot at a 39.4% rate from the field this season, 1.6 percentage points below the 41.0% shooting opponents of Abilene Christian have averaged.

The Wildcats and Thunderbirds square off Saturday for the first time in WAC play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Payton Hull is averaging 18.6 points and 2.1 steals for the Wildcats. Earle is averaging 14 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.5 steals over the last 10 games.

Daylani Ballena is averaging 10.5 points for the Thunderbirds. Samantha Johnston is averaging 2.3 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Wildcats: 5-5, averaging 72.2 points, 32.1 rebounds, 16.9 assists, 9.9 steals and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 43.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.7 points per game.

Thunderbirds: 2-8, averaging 57.5 points, 30.6 rebounds, 15.3 assists, 5.4 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 39.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.7 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.