BYU women’s basketball wins four in a row, beating Pacific 62-50
The Cougars are now 13-3 after a win at the University of the Pacific in which they got out to a large lead from the start.
“I’m proud of our team,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “I thought we played a really good game defensively. We were very active and didn’t give up a lot of easy baskets. We also did a good job of moving the ball on offense and getting some easy fast-break baskets. It’s hard to get a win here, so I’m happy for our team.”
Shaylee Gonzales and Paisley Harding both scored 14 points on the night, and Lauren Gustin finished with her ninth double-double of the season, with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
The Cougars held Pacific to 24.6% shooting. The team had seven blocked shots, with Sara Hamson getting three. She is the West Coast Conference leader in blocked shots. Hamson also contributed six points and seven rebounds against Pacific.
Maria Albiero shot 50% from the field and had three 3-pointers, putting up nine points, six rebounds and three assists. The Cougars managed to get half of their points in the paint.
The first half ended with a score of 42-20 in favor of BYU. The Cougars shot 53.1% on field goals and had 11 assists. They led for 95% of the first half and never lost the lead after taking it.
Gonzales dominated the first half and had 11 points in the first half and Harding and Albiero had six. Gustin put up seven points in the first half.
Tahlia White had a clutch three early in the game and Malli Perri had two points to go along with a block and an assist.
The Cougars shot 100% from the free-throw line in the first half, but also had eight team fouls at the half compared to Pacific’s four. Smiler, Graham, Albiero and Gonzales each had two assists.
BYU pushed the ball in the second half and out to further the lead, but Pacific made a huge effort to come back.
Gustin made a layup and then stole the ball, leading to an assist from Albiero to Harding. Albiero then made a three and gave BYU a 20-point lead on the next play.
Hamson ran down the court and made a move down low to give BYU two points and an assist to Gonzales.
Perri made a tough layup and Harding converted an and-one to make the score 62-41.
Pacific started to press at the end and forced several turnovers against BYU. The Cougars had 23 turnovers that led to 18 points for Pacific.
BYU’s next game will be on the road against St. Mary’s. on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 1 p.m MST.
