PROVO, Utah — A dominating 33-2 run in the opening quarter helped propel BYU to a 92-48 exhibition victory over the Westminster Griffins at the Marriott Center on Wednesday.
"I feel like we started the game with really good defense and we went on a 26-0 run," said head coach Amber Whiting. "I love what I am seeing this year as far as having outside shooters space the floor for our bigs to work inside."
Lauren Gustin's 29 points and 15 rebounds led the way for BYU. Her 15-rebound double-double served as a warmup prior to regular season play, after leading all NCAA divisions, men's or women's, in rebounds per game at 16.7 and setting the BYU single-season rebounding record a season ago with 552.
A 33-point lead in the first quarter was the Cougars' largest advantage since leading 22-2 after the opening quarter against LMU last season.
BYU shot 50.8 percent for the game and held the Griffins to just 23.2 percent from the field. True freshman Kailey Woolston added 13 points, going 5-for-8 from the floor and 3-for-6 from three-point land while Emma Calvert also chipped in 13 points on a 6-for-8 clip.
First Quarter
The Cougars jumped out to an early 8-0 lead following three straight buckets in the paint from Gustin. Lauren Davenport followed, nailing a three in the corner to give BYU an 11-0 advantage.
BYU continued to shoot the ball well in the quarter, notching a 63.6 percent clip to extend its lead to 17-0 before the first media timeout. Following the timeout, the Cougars continued to pitch a shutout as Gustin knocked down a top-of-the-key triple to extend the BYU lead to 24-0.
The Griffins scored their first points of the game with just over a minute remaining in the quarter via a layup from Jaycee Lichtie, but BYU would grow its lead to 33-2 by the end of the quarter. The Cougars outshot Westminster 72.2 percent to 7.1 percent in the first 10 minutes.
Second Quarter
Back-to-back threes by Amari Whiting and Davenport extended BYU's lead to 42-4 to open the quarter.
Two made free throws for Westminster cut their deficit to 51-16 with just under three minutes remaining in the half but BYU maintained control as Gustin closed the half with a rebound and putback at the buzzer to extend the Cougars lead to 56-22.
BYU outrebounded the Griffins 26-9 in the first half and forced 12 Westminster turnovers.
Third Quarter
The Griffins opened the half on an 8-0 run with back-to-back three-point buckets, cutting the BYU lead to 56-30 early in the quarter.
A steal and a made layup from Kailey Woolston helped the Cougars maintain their lead at 65-32 before the under-5 media timeout.
Fourth Quarter
The Cougars led 76-45 to begin the final quarter before a timeout was called with six minutes remaining in the game.
Gustin hit a jumper in the paint to extend BYU's lead to 84-44 before the Cougars closed out a 92-48 exhibition victory.
BYU will open its regular season on the road against the Montana State Bobcats on November 7 at 11 a.m MT. Jason Shepherd will have the radio call live on BYU Radio 107.9, byuradio.org and the BYU Radio App with the game being streamed on ESPN+.