PROVO, Utah — Cassie Broadhead’s 22 points lifted the BYU women’s basketball team to a 73-61 victory over San Francisco Saturday afternoon at the Marriott Center.
"San Francisco's a very, very good team. They play very hard and do a good job of spreading you out," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "I thought we did a good job of guarding them, especially in the second half. We took them out of the main offense they run. This was a big game and we needed to take care of business."
The Cougars shot a season-high 57 percent from the field as three players scored in double digits. Behind Broadhead’s 22 points, including 14 first-half points, Kalani Purcell had 13 points. The duo pulled down eight boards apiece while Purcell also recorded seven assists. Makenzi Pulsipher added 12 points of her own.
Both teams traded baskets early on before tying it 10-10 with under five minutes to go in the first quarter. BYU then went on a 12-1 run, propelled by six points from Broadhead, to finish the period up 22-11.
San Francisco responded in the second quarter and closed the gap to five points, 30-25, with 5:39 on the clock. Three-consecutive points on a free throw from Makenzi Pulsipher and a jumper from Amanda Wayment sparked an offensive outburst for the Cougars en route to a 10-point lead, 37-27. A 3-pointer from Pulsipher extended BYU’s lead to 13, 42-29, with 1:06 left in the period. The Cougars kept their composure and went into halftime up 42-32.
BYU commanded the third quarter, containing the Dons to just 12 points and leading by as many as 22 points. Micaelee Orton added seven points off the bench before the Cougars took a 65-44 lead at the end of the third quarter.
A slow-paced fourth quarter allowed San Francisco to outscore BYU 17-8. Following a minute-and-a-half drought for both teams, a layup from Purcell put the Cougars up 67-47 with 6:51 on the clock. Broadhead scored the team’s final six points and BYU finished the game on top with a 12-point 73-61 win over the Dons.
The Cougars travel to play San Diego on Thursday, Feb. 16, at 6 p.m. PST. The game will be streamed on TheW.tv and broadcast on BYU Radio - Sirius XM 143.
Postgame Notes
Team
BYU took the 43-32 lead into the halftime break, with the Cougars shooting 63.0 percent from the field in the first half of play. BYU finished the game shooting a season-high 57.1 percent (28-49).
For the ninth time of the 2016-17 season, three players scored in double-figures—Broadhead (22), Purcell (13) and Pulsipher (12).
The Cougars scored 36 points in the paint to the Dons 18. BYU also recorded 10 fast break points, while USF had zero.
The Cougars had 12 steals and the team is now 13-3 when it records more steals than its opponent. BYU also recorded seven team blocks while USF tallied zero. BYU is now 12-3 when the Cougars have more blocks than their opponent.
Player
Cassie Broadhead went into halftime leading all scorers with 14 points. The junior guard also dished out four first-half assists. Broadhead finished the contest with a game-high 22 points. She also tied for game-highs in assists (7) and rebounds (8).
Makenzi Pulsipher recorded eight first half points. The senior also had five steals in the first half alone, tying a season-high. Pulsipher finished the contest with 12 points, going 1 of 1 from behind the arc. She also had two rebounds and one block.
Kalani Purcell dished out five assists before the halftime break. She also had four points and four rebounds after 20 minutes of action. For the game, she finished with 13 points and tied Broadhead in game highs in rebounds and assists with eight and seven respectively. With her eight rebounds, Kalani Purcell now has 678 rebounds in her career at BYU. She is now 10th all-time in rebounds in BYU history in just two seasons as a Cougar.
Kristine Nielson tied a career-high in blocks, with two. Nielson also had seven points, two rebounds and one assist in the win.