BYU women’s basketball fades late in 77-66 loss to No. 16 Oklahoma
BYU women’s basketball couldn’t finish the fight Tuesday afternoon against No. 16 Oklahoma, stumbling down the stretch to fall 77-66 against the future Big 12 conference mate Sooners.
“We need to get better at coming together and not getting rattled, but our perseverance pushed us through,” BYU head coach Amber Whiting said. “I was really proud of the girls tonight because we’ve played a solid half before, and tonight we played three quarters. We are young still, and super inexperienced, but this team is growing and getting experience every day.”
The Cougars outshot the Sooners, led by as many as 11 points and held the lead for the majority of the contest, but were outscored 16-6 in the final three minutes and couldn’t solve their turnover issues in coughing up 15 giveaways.
Lauren Gustin notched her 32nd career double-double with 15 points and 20 rebounds, and Amanda Barcello drained four three-pointers to add another 12 points.
Nani Falatea posted 12 points, seven boards and five assists, while Kaylee Smiler added 11 points despite a 2-10 line from the field.
BYU falls to 0-3 in Whiting’s tenure thus far, looking to find its first win of the season in this weekend’s trip to Hawaii for the North Shore Showcase, where the Cougars will face Washington State Friday and Troy Saturday.
