SAN DIEGO — With four Cougars scoring in double-digits, BYU women’s basketball recorded its 11th conference win beating San Diego 65-47 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion on Thursday night. The win puts BYU in second place in the West Coast Conference standings.
"I thought we started out well tonight," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "We moved the ball really well. Everyone was passing and cutting and we took advantage of some open shots. We've tried to focus on starting off well on the road and we did that tonight. I thought we played well defensively in our zone. We had active hands and active pressure and we thought zone was the best way for us to get the win tonight."
Cassie Broadhead led the way for BYU with a team-high 14 points. Kalani Purcell added 12 points and 10 rebounds in the win, while Makenzi Pulsipher and Kristine Nielson scored 10 points apiece.
BYU (17-9, 11-4 West Coast Conference) shot 48.0 percent from the field as a team to San Diego’s (11-14, 5-10 WCC) 32.1.
The Cougars began the first quarter on a 7-0 run, going 3 of 3 from the field to start the game. San Diego then went on an 8-1 run to tie the game at 8-all, before Broadhead silenced the crowd with a deep 3-pointer.
With 4:27 to go, Purcell sank a pair of free throws to extend the Cougar lead back to seven, 15-8. Pulsipher then put BYU on top 21-10 with 25 seconds to go in the quarter. Broadhead hit a step back three at the buzzer to give the Cougars the 14-point 24-10 lead going into the second quarter.
Nielson opened the second 10 minutes of action with yet another Cougar trey. BYU tallied five threes through the first 11 minutes of play. Amanda Wayment then scored a quick four points, forcing a USD timeout with 6:49 to on the clock.
Brenna Chase came off the bench and converted another BYU 3-point field goal to give the Cougars the 34-17 advantage. The Cougars then went on an 8-0 run before San Diego stopped the run with a layup.
BYU took the 19-point 44-25 lead into halftime. The Cougars hit eight first half 3-pointers and shot 15 of 30 from the field as a team.
Teams traded baskets to open the second half before the Cougars extended their lead to 24, 54-30. Both BYU and USD then went on a scoring drought through the middle of the third. After a San Diego jumper, BYU took the 58-38 lead into the fourth quarter.
BYU opened the fourth on a 4-0 run fueled by mid-range jumpers from Purcell and Pulsipher. The Cougars and the Toreros cooled down in the fourth period scoring seven and nine points, respectively.
The Cougars will travel to Moraga, California, Saturday to take on Saint Mary’s. Teams will tip off at 2 p.m. MST. The game can be streamed live on theW.tv and it will also be broadcast on BYU Radio – Sirius XM 143. Links to media outlets and live stats can be found on the BYU women’s basketball schedule page.
Postgame Notes
Team
With the 65-47 win at San Diego, BYU improved its record to 17-9 and 11-4 in West Coast Conference play. The victory also puts the Cougars all alone in second place in the league standings.
The Cougars had a 19-point advantage, 44-25 at halftime vs. the Toreros. BYU led by as much as 25, 42-17 with 4:04 left in the second quarter. After three quarters, the Cougars were up by 20, 58-38.
For the seventh time this year, four Cougar players finished in double figures in points. Broadhead (14), Purcell (12), Pulsipher (10), Nielson (10).
BYU shot 50.0 percent from the field in the first half of action while holding USD to 33.3 percent shooting from the field. For the game, the Cougars shot 48.0 percent from the field and held the Toreros to 32.1 percent shooting from the field.
In the rebound category, BYU grabbed 18 boards in the first 20 minutes to USD’s 16 rebounds. For the game, it was San Diego who had the advantage pulling down 34 to the Cougars 32.
BYU had the advantage in assists, dishing out 10 to San Diego’s eight in the first half. The Cougars finished with 14 assists, while the Toreros had 12 in the game.
The Cougars recorded three blocks in the first half and finished the game with five. USD had two in the game.
In the steals category, BYU had the edge at halftime with six to USD’s five. The Cougars kept their advantage for the game, getting 12 to the Toreros eight.
BYU got 17 of its total points off of San Diego miscues and the Cougar bench outscored USD’s bench 16 to six.
Player
Cassie Broadhead recorded her 25th game with double figures with a team-best 11 points at halftime. She also had two rebounds, two assists and two steals. For the game, Broadhead had a team-best 14 points, going 3 of 4 from behind the arc and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line. She pulled down six rebounds, dished out two assists, and had two steals and one block.
At halftime, Kalani Purcell had grabbed seven rebounds, the most of any player. She ended the contest with a game-high 10 rebounds and with 12 points, picked up her 14th double-double of the season. Purcell also had a game-high six steals, which tie for career-bests.
With 10 points, Makenzi Pulsipher picked up her 19th game with double-digit scoring. She also dished out a game-best six assists for season bests in that category and grabbed three rebounds.
Kristine Nielson had 10 points in the win over USD, marking her 10th game putting up double figures in points. She was 2 of 4 from 3-point range and shot 4 of 7 from the field. She also had three steals, one assist and one block.
Amanda Wayment came off the bench, scored six points and grabbed two rebounds.
Micaelee Orton contributed four points and four rebounds in 11 minutes of playing time.
Brenna Chase came off the bench, played14 minutes, scored six points and dished out two assists.