PROVO, Utah -- BYU women’s basketball picked up its first loss of the season, falling to Utah 82-74 in double-overtime Saturday in the Deseret First Duel.
"We missed opportunities that we've capitalized on this year," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "We have to give Utah a lot of credit, but we just need to do a better job of executing both offensively and defensively. This team will bounce back. We've won a lot of games by making plays, and tonight it just didn't go for us."
The Cougars (9-1) were outscored 15-7 in the second overtime, highlighted by Utah’s Michelle Plouffe scoring nine points. Plouffe’s 3 opened the period and was followed by back-to-back buckets from Nakia Arquette to give the Utes (5-4) a seven-point lead. The Cougars cut the lead to five on Kim Beeston’s three with one minute to play, but Plouffe’s six free throws iced the game.
BYU was led by Lexi Eaton’s 20 points and five assists. Morgan Bailey had 16 points, and Kylie Maeda and Beeston chipped in 12 each. Plaugued by early foul trouble, Jennifer Hamson had a near double-double with nine points and 12 rebounds. Plouffe led all scorers with 24.
With BYU trailing by one with 18 seconds left in the first overtime, Eaton drove to the left side of the lane and kicked to Bailey, who hit her fourth 3-pointer of the game with just under 10 seconds left to give the Cougars a 67-65 lead. After a Ute timeout, Plouffe made a driving layup to tie the game at 67 and send the game into another overtime.
Trailing by one at half, the Utes started on a 9-3 run to take a 42-37 lead in the second. Hamson scored the Cougars’ next five points and a trey by Xojian Harry capped an 8-1 run to give them a 45-43 lead. After a 6-0 Utah run, Maeda hit back-to-back 3s to give BYU a 55-54 lead. Down 62-60, Plouffe hit a jumper to tie the game with under a minute left. After a BYU miss, the Utes failed to get a shot off before the shot clock expired and left just two seconds for BYU to try a final shot. Maeda’s half court heave bounced off the rim, forcing the first overtime.
In the first half, the teams battled to an early tie at 11. Utah used a 12-2 run to take a 10-point lead with just under 10 minutes left in the half, capped off by a four-point play from point guard Danielle Rodriguez. Bailey hit her third 3-pointer of the half and Eaton had a three-point play to key a 9-0 run to tie the game at 27 with four minutes left. Eaton’s long trey gave the Cougars a 32-31 lead, their first lead since the second minute of the game. The half would end with the Cougars leading 34-33. Bailey’s 13 points led BYU, and Utah’s Emily Potter had 14 to lead all scorers in the half. Eaton also chipped in 12 first-half points.
The Cougars return to action Dec. 21 at home against Utah State. The game will be broadcast live on BYUtv. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. MST.
BYU vs. Utah Postgame Notes 12-14-13
Team
Despite poor shooting to start the game, BYU finished the first half shooting 43.8 percent from the field. The Cougars overcame a 10-point deficit to take a 34-33 lead going into halftime.
Two Cougars, Lexi Eaton and Morgan Bailey, reached double figures in points before halftime. Kylie Maeda and Kim Beeston joined them in double figures by the end of the game with 12 apiece.
BYU had an 11-0 run late in the second half to retake the lead with 5:30 to play.
The Cougars played in their second overtime of the season vs. Utah and went into double overtime for the first time this season.
BYU shot 35.7 percent from the field and 40 from 3-point range.
BYU won the assist battle 22-19 while the Utes won in rebounds 44-42.
Attendance at the game was 1,079.
The loss was BYU’s first of the season. BYU falls to 9-1, while Utah improves to 5-4.
The last time Utah defeated BYU was in the Mountain West Conference semifinal game March 11, 2011.
Player
Lexi Eaton led the Cougars with 20 points. She also had four rebounds and five assists.
Morgan Bailey drained a career-high three 3-pointers in the first half and added another with 10 seconds left in overtime to put BYU in the lead 67-65. She finished with 16 points and four treys, shooting 100 percent from beyond the arc.
Kylie Maeda set a new career high of four 3-pointers after draining three treys in the second half. Maeda finished with 12 points, also a career high, and four assists.
Kim Beeston recorded 12 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Cougars.
Jennifer Hamson led the team in rebounds with 12 and was one point shy of a double-double with nine.