BYU women’s basketball held on to beat Pepperdine 84-78 on the road Saturday afternoon.
Lexi Eaton helped bring the Cougars back from an early deficit with 29 points and 7 rebounds. Makenzi Morrison added an impressive 25 points and shot a perfect 7-of-7 from behind the three-point line, a BYU record. Morrison hit many of those shots when BYU needed them the most, giving the Cougars the lead on several different occasions. Morgan Bailey scored nine points while bringing down 14 of BYU’s 30 rebounds.
“I just shot like I normally do, and it felt good,” Morrison said. “I really worked on trying to eliminate any extra movement. I also knew I had to be ready for the kick out because they were doubling Lexi and Morgan.”
The Cougars were able to pull ahead right before halftime and never lost the lead despite being down for the majority of the first half. Morrison’s three-point shooting and Eaton’s constant attack to the basket gave the Cougars a nine-point lead with two minutes left in the game.
“Our offense played one of its best games of the year tonight,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. The Cougars shot 53.1 percent from the field, 71.9 percent from the free throw line and 50 percent from the three-point line.
BYU was behind for most of the first half and trailed 17-9 ten minutes into the game. Foul trouble was an issue, with the team collecting three fouls in a matter of 30 seconds. Pepperdine was able to control the floor with points off steals and second-chance points from rebounds.
Morrison brought the team within four with two minutes left in the first half by hitting back-to-back shots. The Cougars then took a 33-31 halftime lead on a Kylie Maeda driving layup to beat the buzzer.
