CEDAR CITY, Utah - Dec. 17 - Southern Utah women's basketball connected on 55 percent from the field en route to a season-high 85 points in a blowout victory over Western Oregon on Wednesday night.  The 85-52 victory moves the Thunderbirds to 4-6 on the season, while WOU drops to 4-4.

The Thunderbirds were led by senior Anne Westwood Higbee with game highs of 15 points and 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.  She was followed by Challis Pascucci and Caitlyn Sears with ten points as 12 of 13 players seeing time in the game recorded a field goal for SUU.

Southern Utah recorded the first bucket of the game on a Pascucci lay-up and never look back, building its first double-digit lead at the 10:51 mark as Lyndie NeVille's runner in the lane put the score at 22-12.  The lead doubled on a Sears' 3-point basket at the 4:46 mark, giving the Thunderbirds a 38-18 advantage before eventually taking a 45-21 lead into the locker rooms at the half.

"Offensively we were very good tonight," interim head coach Kit Janes said after the game.  "However there are still things that we need to work on.  We've been giving up way too many offensive rebounds and have turned the ball over too much."

The Thunderbirds' lead reached the 30-point plateau early in the second half as freshman Cassie Platt connected on the front end of a one-and-one to put the score at 54-24.  The Wolves cut the lead to its lowest in the second half of 26 (71-45) following a 9-2 run, but SUU bounced back and brought the lead back into the 30's down the stretch for the 85-52 final outcome.

Katie Torland led the Wolves with 14 points with Sara Zahler also in double figures with 11.  Southern Utah shot over 50 percent for the second time this season and was strong on the glass, out rebounding WOU 44-37.  However, Western Oregon made the most of 20 Thunderbird turnovers and 19 offensive rebounds to create ten more shots, but failed to turn those opportunities into points, shooting only 27 percent from the field.

Western Oregon head coach Greg Bruce was ejected from the game nine minutes into the contest after being called for back-to-back technical fouls.  SUU posted its first win by 30 or more points since the 2000-01 season when the team overcame Oakland 81-51.

Southern Utah will be back in action on Saturday night when the Thunderbirds travel to Logan for a game against Utah State.  Tip-off for that game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.