The rain came down over St. George as a battle raged inside the Burns Arena the night of Feb. 13. The neighbors from the north had come down for the first Southern Utah University vs. Utah Tech University rivalry game of 2025 with women’s basketball.
Only separated by about 53 miles, the rivalry between the SUU Thunderbirds and the Utah Tech Trailblazers has blossomed since Utah Tech’s transfer to Division I.
Utah Tech swept the T-Birds in both games in the 2023-2024 season, and they were ready to fight. Neither team had won more than two conference games coming in.
After going down 1-5 early in the first, the Trailblazers came out swinging and went on a quick 10-0 run.
Utah Tech shot an impressive 40% from three during that time, and the momentum carried them through the first half.
Defensively, senior forward Emily Isaacson led the way with three blocks in those first two frames. SUU never regained their early lead and went into the locker room with a score of 32-28.
The stage was set for late-game theatrics. The arena echoed with the shouts from the Stampede as the halftime performances from the cheer team and the Blaze kept the energy high.
“It’s a different beast,” Kybin Al-Mosawi, a junior psychology major from Salt Lake City, said when asked about preparing for the SUU rivalry. “We love it. It’s awesome. Every single SUU game, we’re trying to break records to get as many people out here as possible. There’s a good energy in the building tonight.”
The Trailblazers held onto the small lead heading into the fourth quarter when the chaos began. Fans from both sides were voicing their disagreements with calls on both sides of the ball, which preceded the teams exchanging free throws and the lead with less than two minutes left.
SUU was up 64-65 with 11.7 seconds left when Ellie Taylor, a freshman criminal justice major from West Jordan, drew a foul and made both free throws to give Utah Tech the lead again.
However, a mere six seconds later, SUU guard Daylani Ballena was fouled and made both of her free throws to snatch the lead right back.
The Trailblazers ended up losing in heartbreak fashion after one more foul and two more free throws, leaving the final score in the Burns 66-69. The team shot 4-9 from the free throw line in the fourth and allowed the T-Birds to grab 17 offensive rebounds across the whole game.
Taylor finished with 21 points and two steals and was the only player in double figures for Utah Tech. Isaacson finished with eight points and six rebounds to go along with the blocks.
“We wanted to keep it pretty business-like and keep it as we needed to get better this game and not focus on the rivalry,” Taylor said.
Nicole Willardson, a sophomore exercise science major from Richfield, had two blocks. She spoke about the energy in the arena and what it means to have support from the fans.
“I think it’s awesome,” she said. “Just [to] have our fans come out here really means a lot to us… I’m really grateful for them coming out here and supporting us.”
Taylor expressed a similar sentiment.
“I wish I could thank each of them individually for coming, but I can’t so, I just thank everyone,” she said.
The team looks ahead to their next game against Utah Valley University Feb. 19 and to the Western Athletic Conference tournament in March.
“[We’re focusing] just one game at a time,” Willardson said. “We’re trying our best to focus on where we’re at and where our feet are.”
