HOUSTON, Texas – BYU turned the ball over 25 times on Wednesday night as BYU women’s basketball fell to the Houston Cougars at the Fertitta Center, 79-69.
"We can't turn over the ball," said head coach Amber Whiting. "We have been working on that, but Houston pressured us tonight and we did not take care of the ball like we should have."
The Cougars in blue had four players score in double figures with Amari Whiting, Kaylee Smiler and Lauren Davenport finishing with 15 apiece. Lauren Gustin recorded her nation-leading 15th double-double with 14 points and 17 rebounds an assist and a block.
BYU shot 50 percent from the field to Houston’s 43.9, and 41.2 percent from three to the home team’s 40 percent. The team from Provo also outrebounded and recorded more assists than the home team but BYU turned the ball over 25 times leading to 27 points for Houston.
1st Quarter
After a fast-break layup by the Houston Cougars to open the scoring, Amari Whiting hit a left-wing triple to give BYU an early 3-2 lead. Four quick BYU turnovers led to six points for Houston and ultimately an 11-0 run to take a 13-3 lead with 5:09 to play in the opening quarter.
Lauren Gustin scored four points for the BYU Cougars followed by a floater from Whiting to cut the Houston lead to 11 at 21-10. With the clock expiring, Lauren Davenport beat her defender baseline and scored off the glass to cut the deficit to nine at the end of the first. BYU is 2-5 this season when trailing after the opening ten minutes.
2nd Quarter
After a dismal first quarter for the Cougars in blue, BYU found their groove, forcing four scoring eight-straight points while holding Houston scoreless to climb within one with 5:39 to play in the half.
Following a UH timeout, the Houston Cougars countered with a 10-0 run of their own to retake an 11-point lead before Davenport hit a floater to snap a three-minute scoring drought for BYU. With the second quarter clock winding down, Whiting hit a three at the buzzer to climb within nine at the break.
3rd Quarter
In the opening minutes of the third, Houston forced three BYU turnovers and turned them into four points and a 13-point advantage. Smiler ended the two-minute scoring drought with a floater in the lane followed by a transition three from the right corner to draw the Cougars within eight with 6:20 to go in the third.
After holding Houston scoreless for nearly four minutes, Whiting found Smiler in the same corner for her second-straight three to cut the lead to six with 4:34 left in the period. The Houston Cougars again pushed the lead to nine before a third Smiler triple brought BYU within six.
4th Quarter
The Houston Cougars stretched the lead to double digits before four consecutive points from Whiting and Rose Bubakar cut the deficit to six with 7:56 left. After a Houston three, Davenport scored five straight points on a floater in the lane followed by a transition triple to pull within four, the closest BYU had been since the 5:19 mark of the second quarter.
Following the timeout, Davenport scored off the glass to claw within five, but an 8-3 run for Houston retook a nine-point lead which sealed the Houston Cougars’ first Big 12 Conference win.
The Cougars will return to action on Saturday as they host the Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday, Jan. 13 at the Marriott Center at 4 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with Spencer Linton and Kristen Kozlowski on the call. Fans can also tune in to live play-by-play with Jason Shepherd on BYU Radio 107.9, byuradio.org and the BYU Radio app.