PROVO, Utah – Cassie Broadhead Devashrayee scored 21 points as BYU women's basketball fell 79-63 to Georgia on Saturday afternoon at the Marriott Center.
"Georgia's an outstanding team," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "I was proud of us for fighting to come back. We need to not let it get out of hand in the first place though."
Brenna Chase put up 15 points and dished out four assists for the Cougars (3-2). As a team, BYU went 14 of 29 (48 percent) from the field in the second half, after shooting just 6 of 28 (21 percent) in the first half.
After scoring the game's opening basket, BYU found itself in a 9-2 hole halfway through the first quarter. The Cougars fought back with Devashrayee knocking down a jumper and two free throws in the closing minutes. Jasmine Moody's 3-pointer with under a minute left made it just a 13-12 Georgia (5-0) advantage heading into the second quarter.
The Bulldogs hit four 3-pointers and jumped out to a 14-0 run at the beginning of the second quarter to lead 27-12. Chase ended the drought for BYU with a pair of free throws. Georgia went on another big run but the Cougars scored the last seven points of the half. Into the locker room, they trailed 36-22.
Chase led BYU in scoring at halftime with eight points.
The hot shooting continued for the Bulldogs in the third quarter, as they buried four-straight field goals and went on a 7-0 run. The Cougars responded with their own 7-0 run to trail 52-37 with a couple minutes left in the quarter. Sara Hamson scored seven points over the final three minutes of the period and brought BYU's deficit to 12 at 56-44 heading into the fourth.
Two minutes into the fourth quarter, Malia Nawahine’s layup cut the Bulldog lead to 60-51. It was the first time in the second half the Cougars were within 10 points. Devashrayee’s three-point play with 5:13 left gave her 15 points in the second half and made it 65-54 for Georgia.
BYU next plays at Northern Colorado on Thursday at 7 p.m. MST. That game can be streamed through uncbears.com, with a radio broadcast on BYU Radio (Sirius XM 143) and online at byuradio.org/listen.
Postgame Notes vs. Georgia
Team
Down 36-22 at halftime, BYU cut the Georgia lead to nine, 60-51, in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs outscored the Cougars 19 to 12 in the final minutes to claim the 79-63 win.
The Cougars shot 21.4 percent from the field in the first half, while the Bulldogs shot 48.3 percent. BYU finished shooting 35.1 percent to UGA’s 50.8.
Two BYU players scored in double digits for the fifth time this season: Devashrayee (21), Chase (15).
The Bulldogs outscored the Cougars 34 to 18 in points in the paint, while BYU had 18 bench points to UGA’s 16.
BYU had 42 rebounds and Georgia pulled down 32.
Player
Brenna Chase had eight points at halftime, leading all BYU scorers. Chase finished the game with 15 points, going 7 of 8 from the foul line. Chase led the Cougars with four assists, tying her career-high.
Cassie Broadhead Devashrayee scored in double figures for the fifth time this season, and the 40th time of her career. Devashrayee also added five rebounds, a game-high three steals and one assist to her stat line. With two 3s, Devashrayee ties Kim Talbot for 18th place in career 3-point field goals at BYU.
Sara Hamson recorded a career-high seven points. The freshman also had five rebounds and two blocks.
Malia Nawahine chipped in five points, added six boards and dished out two assists.