HOUSTON – Shanice Steenholdt led five Huskies in double figures and HBU shot 60 percent from the floor in the game – including 70 percent in the second half – en route to an 88-77 win over Southern Utah Saturday evening at Sharp Gym.

The 88 points were the most since scoring 92 in a 92-57 win over Chicago State last March, while the 60 percent field-goal percentage was the highest in a game since the 2006-07 Huskies shot 60 percent against Jarvis Christian on Feb. 26, 2007.

Steenholdt led all players with 21 points, as she shot 10-of-17 from the floor. Rachel Arthur scored 16, followed by Erin McGarrachan with 12, and Tayler Jefferson and Wiebke Bruns each with 11. Anna Strickland grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

Lori Parkinson led Southern Utah (2-1) with 16 points, while Andrea Jones scored 13, and Desiree Jackson and Marissa Robbins each added 10. Parkinson also grabbed a team-high seven boards.

Southern Utah started on fire, as the Thunderbirds scored 10 of the first 14 points and jumped out to a 10-4 lead with 16:56 remaining in the opening half. SUU led by as many as eight (14-6) before the Huskies scored seven unanswered to cut the deficit to one, at 14-13 with 12:56 remaining.

Back-to-back treys gave the Thunderbirds a seven-point advantage, at 20-13. Once again, SUU led by as many as eight before the Huskies fought back. A steal by Ekemini Essien led to a three-pointer by Steenholdt, which had come seconds after a layup by Steenholdt, as SUU's lead was cut to three, 23-20, with 9:08 left in the first half.

The Thunderbirds used an 8-2 run to take an eight-point lead with 5:39 to go, at 30-24, but four made free throws, a steal by Meghan Shank and a layup by Steenholdt made the score 32-30 in favor of SUU with 3:10 remaining.

The teams battled back and forth until the Huskies tied the contest at 38-all with 42 seconds remaining following a layup by McGarrachan. It looked like the Thunderbirds were going to take a three-point lead into the locker room, as Jones hit a three with 20 seconds left, but Arthur nailed a trey of her own as time expired to tie the game at 41-all at halftime.

McGarrachan and Parkinson led their respective teams with 10 points apiece in the first half. HBU shot 50 from the floor, while the Thunderbirds shot 55 percent.

HBU took its first lead since 2-0, just 20 seconds into the second half, as Arthur scored on a layup. The teams battled to two ties until the Huskies took a three-point lead, 51-48, following an and-one play by Bruns.

The Huskies later increased their lead to five, as Bruns hit a layup, stole the ensuing pass, then scored another layup, as the Huskies led SUU, 63-58, with just under 11 minutes left in regulation.

SUU cut the deficit to three, at 65-62, but HBU used a 16-8 run for its largest lead of the game, at 81-70, with 2:31 remaining in the second half. The Thunderbirds could get no closer than eight the rest of the way.

HBU shot an astounding 70 percent from the floor in the second half, shooting 20-of-29 from the floor.

HBU (2-1) will play a non-conference contest at Southland Conference foe Sam Houston State Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 6:30 pm.