STOCKTON, Calif.-The late comeback was not enough for BYU women’s basketball against Pacific, falling 82-86 on the road Saturday.
“We got in a hole,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “They came out aggressive and we were a little off balanced. I thought we did a better job later in the first half of cutting the lead, giving us a chance to come back and win. We had a lot of opportunities to take the lead, but we could not execute.”
Lexi Eaton led all scorers with 29 points (11 of 13 from the charity stripe). She also grabbed nine rebounds and dished out four assists. Morgan Bailey had 28 points (10 of 18 from the field) and 11 rebounds for her 14th double-double of the season. She shot 7 of 10 from the free throw line and also had six assists.
“It’s tough to lose to a team we know can beat,” Bailey said. “We have been in this position a lot this season, and we have to fight to never give up. We have to have better starts and finishes and come ready to play a full game of tough defense.”
Kylie Maeda added 11 points, including making 3 of 3 treys. Makenzi Morrison had 10 points, three rebounds and three assists. As a team, the Cougars shot 48 percent from the field and 53 percent from beyond the arc.
With this loss, BYU (19-7, 11-4 West Coast Conference) drops to a tie in 3rd place in the WCC race with Pacific (18-7, 10-4 WCC) and San Diego.
Both teams were scoreless for the first two minutes of the game until Pacific scored at the 17:52 mark. Bailey answered right back for BYU with a layup on the next possession. The Tigers got hot and went on a 10-2 run until Maeda found Bailey for the bucket to stop the run and make it 6-13 with 14:05 left in the first half.
The Cougars continued to struggle in the first half. They were held scoreless for three minutes, allowing the Tigers to go up 20-8. A big offensive board by Bailey set up Eaton for a 3-pointer with 9:19 remaining to close the gap to 12-20.
A trey from Morrison capped off a quick 5-0 run for BYU when Pacific answered right back with a three of its own to push its lead to 30-21. Jump shots from Eaton, Kristine Fuller and Bailey made up a 6-0 run to get within six points with 3:10 left in the half.
The Cougars made 10 of their last 12 shots of the first half to close in on the Tigers lead. Bailey nailed a 3-pointer with five seconds left to make the score 37-42 going into the half.
The second half started off strong for BYU, making two treys in a row to get within one, 45-46. The Tigers answered back with an 8-0 run, holding the Cougars scoreless for four minutes. With 14:05 left in the game, Morrison ended the 0 for 7 shooting streak with a jump shot, closing back in on Pacific’s 56-47 lead.
Bailey nailed a turnaround hook shot with 11 minutes left to close in on the Tigers’ lead, 57-61. The two teams traded buckets back and forth until Pacific went on a 7-0 run. A 3-pointer from Maeda ended the run to make it 64-72 with 5:59 remaining.
The only points scored for BYU were free throws until Eaton drove to the basket for the layup with 2:48 left to get within four points, 74-78. With 46 seconds remaining, Eaton got the putback off of a miss to make it a two point game, 78-80. In the end, the Cougars’ comeback fell short against the Tigers, falling 82-86, never leading in this ball game.
BYU has a bye on Thursday before hitting the road to play San Diego on Feb. 21 at 2 p.m. PST. The game will be broadcast live on theW.tv and BYU Radio – Sirius XM 143. Live stats will also be available on the BYU women’s basketball schedule page.
Postgame Notes
Team
For the fourth time on the year, four players finished the game scoring in double figures. Lexi Eaton led the way with 29, Morgan Bailey had 28, Kylie Maeda contributed 11 and Makenzi Morrison finished the game with 10.
With the final 82 total game points, the Cougars picked up their sixth game with 80-plus points.
Both teams had equal number of points in the paint with 14 each in the first 20 minutes of action. Pacific would end the game with the advantage with 36 points in the paint compared with 26 for the Cougars.
BYU had the advantage in the rebound category with 18, compared with 15 for the Tigers in the first half. For the game, the Cougars pulled down five more boards than Pacific, 35 to 30 making it the 14th time on the year that BYU has had more rebounds than its opponents.
In points off of turnovers in the first half, Pacific had the edge with 10 points from BYU mistakes. The Cougars had five points from Tigers’ miscues. At the end of the game, Pacific got 16 points from BYU turnovers. The Cougars had just six from Tiger turnovers.
Pacific finished the first half with 10 assists, one more than BYU. For the game, the Cougars recorded two more assists than the Tigers, getting 20 to their 18.
Player
Morgan Bailey led all scorers at the break with 16 points and eight rebounds. She also had three assists, the most on the team in the first half. Bailey finished the game with her 14th double-double of the season, the third straight with 28 points and 11 rebounds. The boards were team bests as were her six assists.
Lexi Eaton was the second Cougar player to record double figures in points in the first 20 minutes of action with 10. Eaton had also pulled down three rebounds. For the game, she tallied a game-high 29 points to go along with nine rebounds. She also dished out four assists and had one block.
Makenzi Morrison picked up her 12th game and second straight scoring in double digits with 10 points. Morrison also grabbed three rebounds and dished out three assists.
For the fifth time on the year, Kylie Maeda recorded double digit scoring in points with 11. She also dished out three assists, had one steal and grabbed one rebound. She also played all 40 minutes.