Cougars’ offensive explosion too much for Billikens

BYU women’s basketball won its second game in Laie, Hawaii behind a career night from Emma Calvert as BYU defeated the St. Lous Billikens 87-66. 

Calvert provided the Cougars a huge lift off the bench tonight scoring 22 points, grabbing 6 rebounds, blocking two shots and adding in a team-high four assists. The junior forward from Farr West, Utah was making it look easy making eight out of her nine attempts from the field and making both of her 3-point attempts.

In BYU’s highest scoring output of the season, there were a lot of bright spots for head coach Amber Whiting in another dominant win improving the Cougars to 5-0 on the season.

BYU got off to another start in the first quarter behind Amari Whiting’s eight first-quarter points. She scored six out of BYU’s first eight points pushing the pace from the start. Kailey Woolston finished off the quarter hitting back-to-back 3-point shots pushing the BYU lead 21-10. 

Why anyone would even think to go under a screen when Woolston has the ball is baffling at this point. The freshman guard was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Week last week…

And picked up right where she left off against the Billikens scoring 20 points and going 5-6 from 3-point range. The sharpshooting Woolston entered the game tied for 24th in 3-point makes and 61st in 3-point percentage in the country and only improved those numbers. If the freshman guard continues to lead the Cougars to wins scoring at this clip she is going to contend for Big 12 Freshman of the Year and will be one of the top freshmen in the country at season’s end. 

With as fast as BYU started the first quarter it was the opposite to start the second quarter. During the second period, the BYU offense stalled out, only scoring four points in five minutes. 

Insert Emma Calvert… 

Perhaps the unsung hero of the season so far Calvert has made the most of her opportunities and has been far and away the best player off the bench for the Cougars this season.

Calvert was dominant inside and outside getting deep position and stretching the floor. She scored 10 points on 4-5 shooting and provided the offensive spark BYU needed to close the half out strong. Calvert scored 10 out of the Cougars’ last 12 points to get the BYU offense back in sync. 

The Cougar defense in the first half was excellent holding the Billikens to 30 percent shooting. Billiken guard Kyla McMakin came into the matchup averaging 18 points per game early in the season and was held to zero points by Kaylee Smiler’s great defensive effort.

For what felt like a dominant half for BYU, they only led 39-33 at the half because St. Louis was proficient at the free throw line. St. Louis went 13-13 from the charity stripe which kept them within shouting distance after two. 

The Cougars tightened the screws and put their foot on the Billikens’ neck in the third quarter. They outscored the Billikens 27-17 in the period and got contributions from everyone. Eight players in the third quarter scored with Calvert leading the way with seven points. 

It was a microcosm of the kind of balance that Coach Whiting wants from her squad. The ball was moving and everyone was involved making BYU nearly impossible to stop. 

When the ball moves with that much energy BYU is difficult to stop.

The Cougars finished the third ahead 68-50 and cruised to another comfortable victory. 

This was BYU’s most impressive performance of the season so far because of how well everyone played when they were on the floor. Even Smiler and Lauren Gustin were incredible despite their statistics not jumping off the page.

Smiler was the Cougars’ best connector on offense and her shooting gravity opened up the floor for all of her teammates. More importantly, she was the defensive MVP for her team making McMakin look more like McMissing.

The other senior leader, Gustin, finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds in what was another routine double-double for her. Her numbers were routine but Gustin was anything but. She was double-teamed every time she touched the ball and was the key to opening up the game for her teammates. St. Louis sent monster double teams at her all night and found other ways to score instead of her usual post-ups. 

So far this season most teams have not given Gustin the daylight to attack her matchups one on one. The Cougars entered the game seventh in the country in 3-point percentage at 44.44 percent and finished the night 10-20 from the 3-point line. 

The BYU offense puts any defense they face into a pickle. Opposing teams are going to have to decide whether to let Gustin go to work without sending help, or they are going to give up open 3-point shots all season long if they choose to double-team Gustin. 

It will be fascinating to see if opposing teams are going to find answers against this BYU offense and what those answers might be.