Utah Tech women's basketball started WAC action Thursday evening by falling 76-61 to Southern Utah on Thursday evening. 

What head coach JD Gustin said: Obviously a pretty tough start for us tonight. I didn't do a good job of having our team ready to play. But the roads a treacherous place and if we all aren't locked in, it's usually going to be a difficult night.  Hopefully we can learn from it. I thought SUU handled our zones better than other teams we've played and they made plays whenever we went on a run. We also did a bad job of attacking their switch all. They are a well coached veteran team, hopefully we can give them a better game at home in a few weeks. 

How it happened:  Southern Utah started the game on an 18-1 run while Utah Tech went five minutes without scoring a field goal going 0-17. With just under a minute to play, Amber Kartchner hit a three to break the Trailblazers cold streak and as the first quarter of action ended, UT trailed 26-4. 

The Trailblazers came out in the second quarter going on a 6-0 run thanks to back-to-back three pointers made by Kartchner and Emily Isaacson.  Later, Utah Tech held Southern Utah scoreless for over four minutes and went on a 7-0 run. The Trailblazers out scored the Thunderbirds 21-14 in the second quarter but still trailed 40-25 at the half. 

The two teams matched each other evenly in the third quarter with SUU narrowly out scoring UT 21-20. The Trailblazers couldn't cut the score deficit and trailed 61-45 at the end of the third. 

Southern Utah maintained the intensity in the fourth quarter and pushed ahead to take a 76-61 win over Utah Tech.  

Leaders: Utah Tech had two Trailblazers score in double figures and was led by Amber Kartchner who had 15 points. Gillen also recorded double figures with 10 points. Gillen led with seven rebounds and six assists. 

Comparison: Utah Tech ended the game shooting 31 percent from the field, 28 percent from the three and 66 percent from the free throw line. UT totaled 38 rebounds, 11 assists, seven steals and 11 turnovers.

Southern Utah shot 46 percent from the field, 33 percent from the three and 64 percent from the free throw line. The T-Birds totaled 42 rebounds, 21 assists, five steals and 11 turnovers.

Notes to Know: Utah Tech is now 8-4 on the season. Gillen's six assists has pushed her to 279 total career assists making her the All-Time Career Assist leader in Utah Tech history. 

Next Up: The Trailblazers will host Utah Valley Saturday, Dec. 31 at home in the Burns Arena.