PROVO, Utah – Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher and Lexi Eaton Rydalch led BYU in a 77-67 exhibition win over Fort Lewis College Thursday night at the Marriott Center.
“I think we had moments where we played like we can,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “We did some good things. We’ve got a lot of work, but we’ve got to have some kids buy into the system and what we’re trying to do.”
As a team, BYU shot 42 percent from the field. Pulsipher led the Cougars offensively, adding 17 points while shooting a perfect 10 of 10 from the free throw line. Rydalch contributed 15 points, totalled eight rebounds and had four assists on the night. Kalani Purcell also chipped in nine points and seven rebounds for BYU.
After trading baskets with Ft. Lewis to start the game, Micaelee Orton hit a jumper to put the Cougars up 6-4 at the eight minute mark.
The Cougars then went on a 7-0 run, capped by a converted and-one attempt from Pulsipher to push the BYU lead to 13-6 with four minutes left in the quarter.
The first quarter ended with a run from Ft. Lewis to bring the score to 15-14 for BYU. The Cougars finished the quarter shooting a perfect 7 of 7 from the free throw line.
With two minutes gone in the second quarter, the Cougars gave up the lead to the Skyhawks before a Rydalch jumper tied things up at 17-17. After a couple of quick baskets for Ft. Lewis, Rydalch followed up with a big 3-pointer to bring the Cougars deficit to 22-20 at the seven minute mark.
BYU quickly regained the lead with five minutes to go when MaCayla Hanks hit a layup to put the Cougars up 23-22.
At the three minute mark, Kristine Fuller Nielson hit a shot from deep to bring the score to 31-28. After a made Skyhawks basket, Pulsipher hit another shot from behind the arc to push the lead to 34-30.
Pulsipher hit three free throws in the last minute of the quarter to extend the BYU lead to 37-33 at the half.
Pulsipher led BYU offensively at the half with 13 points, shooting 1 of 2 from deep. Rydalch finished the first half with nine points and five boards for the Cougars.
After Purcell hit a three-pointer to start the second half, the Cougars put together a 20-4 run to go up 60-41. The key run lasted until the four minute mark in the quarter and included three Rydalch baskets and two converted and-one attempts from Purcell and Jasmine Moody.
Amanda Wayment hit a jumper for BYU to push the lead to 66-45 at the one minute mark. A quick run from Ft. Lewis ended the quarter with the score at 66-50.
After a slow start to the fourth quarter, Hanks hit a jumper to put the Cougars up 70-52 with four minutes gone.
The Cougar defense allowed a quick Ft. Lewis run before Cassie Broadhead and Kylie Maeda hit back-to-back baskets to extend the BYU lead to 74-59 with three minutes left in the quarter. Nielson hit a free throw in the last minute of the game to bring the final score to 77-67 for the Cougars.
BYU will take on Utah Valley University next Friday at 3 p.m. MST in the Marriott Center. The game will be broadcast on BYUtv and can be streamed on byutv.org. Fans can also listen to the game on BYU Radio and Sirius XM 143.
Postgame Notes
Team
BYU traded baskets with Ft. Lewis throughout the first half. In the final three minutes of the second period, Kristine Fuller Nielson and Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher hit back-to-back threes to help put the Cougars ahead 37-33 going into the half.
The BYU bench chipped in 30 out of the 77 points scored, 20 of those points coming in the second half.
The Cougars dished out 18 assists to the Skyhawks seven, and grabbed 44 rebounds in the game.
Player
Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher
Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher led the Cougars with 13 points at halftime, shooting 8-8 from the free throw line. She finished the game shooting 100 percent (10-10) from the line, and with a game high 17 points.
Lexi Eaton Rydalch
Lexi Rydalch had five rebounds at the break, adding three rebounds in the second half. She ended the game with a game high eight rebounds in total. Rydalch also rattled in 15 points, along with four assists.
Kalani Purcell
Kalani Purcell finished the game with nine points, seven boards and two assists in her first start as BYU Cougar.
Cassie Broadhead
Cassie Broadhead played a career high 30 minutes, scoring nine points and grabbing four rebounds.​