PROVO, Utah –
Lexi Eaton paced BYU women's basketball with 22 points on the way to an 84-55 win over Santa Clara in the Marriott Center Thursday.
"​It's a good win. I'm proud of my team," BYU head coach
Jeff Judkins said. "I thought we played well in moments tonight. We hit a really good spurt midway through the first half because we defended and executed well. My bench played well tonight as well. It was the best effort from them so far this year."
Eaton also tied her season-high with four assists while adding six boards.
Morgan Bailey added a team-high 14 rebounds to go along with a career-high seven assists in addition to eight points.
Makenzi Morrison and
Xojian Harry added double-digit points with 10 and 12, respectively.
The Cougars got off to a quick start thanks to three-point plays from Eaton on the first two BYU possessions. Santa Clara responded with an 11-2 run to open up an 11-8 lead before a Bailey layup ended the run.
Down 13-10 with 13 minutes to play in the half, the Cougars began what would be a 30-12 run to close the half. Senior Harry came off the bench to provide the spark to get the run going, first hitting a free throw line jumper to give the Cougars the lead 14-13. Harry hit a 3-pointer the next time down the court to build the lead to 17-13. Harry had seven points in the half.
BYU shot well from three in the first half, making five of nine, including two on consecutive possessions to give the Cougars the 33-17 lead. Bailey recorded a career high in assists in the first half with six while pulling down 10 boards. Eaton led the Cougars in scoring with 17 in the half. BYU shot 50 percent from the floor while limiting Santa Clara to 24 percent.
The Cougars did not slow down coming out of the break.
Ashley Garfield hit two free throws and Morrison added a jumper to open the scoring. The two teams traded baskets for a while until Santa Clara used a small run to cut the BYU lead to 13 points with 15 minutes to play. A couple more jumpers from Morrison helped rebuild the Cougar lead to 20 points with 11 minutes to play, 59-39. BYU put the game out of reach with a 16-3 run over the next five minutes to run the score to 75-42.
In a game that saw all 14 available Cougars get playing time, BYU got solid performances from several players. Bailey finished with 14 rebounds, eight points and a career-high seven assists. Harry chipped in an efficient 12 points on only six shots and Morrison finished with 10 points on only five shots. Garfield delivered a good all-around performance for BYU finishing with eight points, eight rebounds and three assists.
The Cougars shot well as a team going 54 percent from the field and 53 percent from three while limiting the Broncos to only 26 percent shooting from the field. BYU also recorded 23 assists as a team and got 33 points from a productive bench.
The Cougars return to the Marriott Center Saturday to take on San Francisco at 2 p.m. MST. The game will be broadcast live on BYUtv and streamed online on BYU Radio.
Postgame Notes
Team
With this win, BYU has never lost after leading at halftime. The team led 40-25 going into the break. The Cougars have won nine of their ten games with a lead going into the half. This is BYU’s third game scoring over 80 points, second in conference play.
BYU had 23 assists in the win, compared to Santa Clara’s 12. The Cougars have dished out more assists in every game this year but one. BYU outrebounded Santa Clara 50 to 41, the seventh time this season doing so.
The Cougars held the Broncos to 26 percent shooting while they shot 55 percent. The BYU bench outscored Santa Clara’s bench 33 to 21. Every available player on the team got minutes in this game.
Player
Morgan Bailey:
Earned a career-high in assists after just the first half, ending with a game-high of seven. She added 14 rebounds and eight points.
Lexi Eaton:
Led the team with 17 points in the first half alone, finishing with a game-high 22. This is her 12th game scoring in double figures this season. She also grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists, which tied a season-high. She made three treys, the most in the game.
Makenzi Morrison:
Scored 10 points while dishing out three assists, a tie for career-high.
Xojian Harry:
Led the effort off of the bench, scoring 12 points on 5 of 6 shooting.
Kristine Fuller:
Tied her career-high in points with seven coming off the bench. She was 3 of 4 from the field and also grabbed three rebounds.
Maddy Ziering-Smith:
Scored a career-high two points in three minutes of playing time.
