PROVO, Utah – Led by 28 points from Lexi Eaton Rydalch and a double-double from Kalani Purcell, BYU women’s basketball defeated Utah State 81-69 in the Marriott Center, Tuesday afternoon.
“The first half was as good as we've played in a long time," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "I think what Lexi did in the first half was crucial. It was a great effort in the second half. Kalani had 21 rebounds, which is the second-most rebounds of any player I've coached here. I thought some girls came in and did some nice things for us."
Both teams were almost even in shooting percentage for the game, with BYU (2-2) shooting 41.6 percent and Utah State (2-2) shooting 41.7 percent. The teams were even in the paint, both scoring 32 points. The Cougars capitalized on turnovers, scoring 27 points off of the Aggies’ miscues in the game.
Rydalch led all scorers with 28 points, including four treys. She also had five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Purcell had a double-double in the win with BYU career highs in rebounds with 21, in points with 14 points, in assists with six and in steals with three. Kylie Maeda led all players with seven assists to go with her seven points. Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher had 10 points and three rebounds in the game.
Micaelee Orton got the scoring started in the first period with a quick two points for the Cougars. A steal by Rydalch set up Purcell for the easy layup, putting BYU up 7-3 with 8:09 remaining in the period. Utah State answered back with a 7-0 run to take back the lead until Maeda drilled a 3-pointer to tie it up at 10-10.
With 1:53 on the clock, Cassie Broadhead got the layup and the foul for three points to extend the lead to 23-16. The Cougars finished the period on a 9-2 run to go up 27-18.
Rydalch scored 13 points in the second period to extend BYU’s lead. After hitting back-to-back 3-pointers, the Cougars led 44-38 with 3:18 until the break. Maeda hit a floater at the buzzer, putting BYU up 50-34 heading into the locker room.
The Aggies started the third period strong, going on a 7-0 run to close the gap. A layup by Pulsipher at the 5:36 mark stopped the run, making it 57-41.
The Cougars responded with a run of their own, scoring nine unanswered points to end the period. Four of those points came within seconds of each other. Amanda Wayment grabbed a board and put it back up for two. Then, Purcell stole the inbound pass and dished it to Broadhead who another quick two, extending the lead to 67-46 with 2:04 left in the third period.
The fourth period was sluggish for the Cougars offensively, scoring just 10 points. Despite Utah State’s 20-point outburst, BYU was able to hold on to the 81-69 win. Wayment sealed the win with a layup at the final buzzer.
The Cougars will hit the road this week to participate in the Radisson Chatsworth Thanksgiving Classic in California. Their first game will be against Georgia on Friday, Nov. 27 at 5 p.m. PST. The game will be broadcast live on BYU Radio – Sirius XM 143. Live stats will also be available on the BYU women’s basketball schedule page.
Postgame notes
Team
BYU went in to the half with a 16-point lead up 50-34, leading Utah State in assists 17 to 9. The Cougars finished the game with 24 assists to the Aggies 11.
The Cougars shot 38.5 percent from behind the arc to the Aggies 20.0 percent in the first half. For the game, BYU shot 26.3 percent from the 3-point line and the Aggies finished the game shooting 20.0 percent.
BYU had eight steals at the break, while the Aggies recorded six. The Cougars ended the contest with 13 steals, five more than the Aggies eight.
Against the Aggies, the Cougars scored a season-high 81 points, 46 rebounds and 24 assists. BYU lead for 36 of the 40 minutes of the game.
Player
Lexi Eaton Rydalch is now fifth in all-time scoring at BYU with 1,828 points behind Erin Thorn with 2,061. She recorded seven points, two rebounds, two assists and three steals in the first period alone, shooting 3 for 4 from the field. Rydalch finished the first half with 20 points.
For the game, she finished with 28 points, just one-point shy of her season-high 29. She added five rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
Through the first 20 minutes of play, Kalani Purcell had a game-high seven rebounds along with eight points. She finished the game recording her first career double-double as a Cougar, with career-highs in scoring (14), rebounding, (21), assists (6) and steals (3).
Kylie Maeda had a game-high five assists in the first half. She also added seven points and one steal through the first 20 minutes.
Maeda scored a season high seven points through the total 40 minutes of play. She finished the game with seven assists, along with two steals.
Amanda Wayment grabbed her career-high rebounds with nine for the game. She also scored a career-high six points.
For the game, Micaelee Orton tied her season-high six points and brought down three rebounds. She dished out a career-high three assists through 40 minutes of play.