The BYU women’s basketball team took control of its home court Thursday night, shellacking Pepperdine 88-49.
“We did some things a little different than we did last game against them,” said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins. “Because they made some adjustments. I thought our zone offense looked sharp, we moved the ball and took the shots they gave us.”
BYU was a force to be reckoned with, as the Cougars highlighted their various strengths with many players contributing to the scoreboard.
Kalani Purcell led the team in scoring with 16 points. She said tempo was an emphasis for the Cougars.
“We’ve been learning through playing against Gonzaga and Portland last week that we need to push the ball around and not focus on just a few players,” Purcell said.
Makenzi Pulsipher added 14 points, 12 of which came from the 3-point line.
“Makenzi is one of the best shooters in the league,” Judkins said. “The first half she missed some shots that I think she’d like to have back, but the good thing about her is that she came out the second half… she hit that three, when we were looking kind of sluggish and got things going again.”
From the beginning of the game the Cougars played a tight defense to combat the Waves’ picks, and kept them at bay.
BYU grabbed 44 total rebounds in the game, 18 offensive. Judkins called the Cougars’ performance on the offensive glass “really positive.”
The Cougars return to the Marriott Center on Saturday, Feb. 11 to host San Francisco.
