PROVO, Utah – Behind Cassie Broadhead Devashayree’s career-high 36 points, BYU women’s basketball wins the Deseret First Duel against in-state rival Utah 77-68 Saturday afternoon at the Marriott Center.
"I’m really proud of this team today," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "I am proud of the way they fought back after getting down early. I’m happy for all of the players because it’s been a tough couple of weeks."
Devashayree led the Cougars (4-5) with a new career-high of 36 points and added five steals, five rebounds and four assists. Malia Nawahine followed with 13 points and six rebounds. Freshman Sara Hamson tied her sister Jennifer Hamson’s record of nine blocks for third-best in school history, while also recording nine rebounds.
At the beginning of the game, BYU struggled to get on the board early and let the Utes (7-2) start with a 7-0 run. Nawahine put the Cougars on the board for the first time, five minutes into the first quarter with a 3-pointer to make the score 9-3. Propelled by Nawahine’s points, BYU went on a 6-0 run, narrowing the score margin to 12-9. Even with a layup and two free throws from Devashrayee, the Cougars still ended the first quarter behind 16-11.
Utah opened up the second quarter with a free throw and a 3-pointer to increase their lead over the Cougars, 20-11. However, a layup from Devashrayee and a 3-pointer from Brenna Chase boosted BYU, making the score 21-20. After the Utes again increased their lead, free throws from both Devashayree and freshman Paisley Johnson brought the Cougars within two points of Utah, 32-30. With 2.3 second left in the second quarter, Chase blocked a Ute 3-pointer, holding them 35-33 going into halftime.
Down by only two points headed into the third quarter, BYU came out strong. Amanda Wayment scored the first basket of the half, tying it up 35-35. At the eight-minute mark, a 3-pointer from Devashayree gave the Cougars their first lead of the game, 38-35. The teams went back and forth until BYU took control of the court, going on an 8-0 run to make the score 49-42.
Up three points at the beginning of the fourth quarter, three Cougars found themselves in foul trouble. Johnson fouled out in the first minute, followed by Wayment two minutes later. However, BYU continued to dominate. A 3-pointer from Chase and a jumper by Nawahine increased the Cougars' lead to seven, making the score 58-51. At the four-minute mark, Shalae Salmon also fouled out. However, the Cougars did not let up and went on a 8-0 run for a 12-point lead, 68-56. Two free throws from Devashrayee with 25 seconds left in the game sealed the game as BYU won 77-68.
The Cougars now head to Berkeley, California, to take on Cal on December 16 at Haas Pavilion. The game will be available live on the Pac-12 Bay Area network and BYU radio Sirius XM 143 with live stats available on the BYU women’s basketball schedule page.
BYU vs. Utah Postgame Notes
Team
Utah led for the first 22 minutes of the game, until Cassie Broadhead Devashrayee knocked down a 3-pointer to give BYU the 38-35 lead at the 8:00 minute mark of the third quarter. The Cougars handed the Utes their second loss of the season, winning the game 77-68.
BYU scored 70 points for the sixth time this season and scored a season-high 77.
In the first half, Utah went 16 of 20 from the foul line, while the Cougars shot 7 of 9 from the charity stripe. The Utes finished the game shooting 69.0 percent (20-29) from the line and BYU shot 80.0 percent from the line (28-35).
The Cougars shot 37.9 percent from the field in the first half to the Utes' 28.6. BYU finished shooting 41.2 percent, while Utah shot 33.3 percent for the game.
Three BYU players finished the game in double figures for the third time this season: Devashrayee (36), Nawahine (13) and Chase (11).
BYU tallied 13 steals to Utah’s six, while both teams dished out 13 assists.
Player
Devashrayee led BYU with 10 points at the half. The senior guard finished with a season- and career-high 36 points, scoring over 20 points for the sixth time this season and the 20th time of her career. She went 18 of 22 from the free-throw line. Her 22 attempts are the second most in the NCAA this year, behind USC’s Minyon Moore, with 23. Devashrayee recorded a game-high five steals, along with a team-high four assists and five rebounds.
Against her former team, Malia Nawahine scored in double-figure points for the fourth time this season. Six of her 13 points came from behind the arc. Nawahine also had six rebounds and four steals.
Brenna Chase scored 11 points for the Cougars. The sophomore has hit at least one 3-pointer in every game to date. She finished the game going 3 of 6 from behind the arc. Chase has made three or more 3-point field goals in four of nine games this season.
Freshman Sara Hamson recorded a career-high nine blocks and nine rebounds in the win. With nine blocks, she ties her sister Jennifer Hamson for the third most in a single game in BYU history. They are the second most in the NCAA this year, behind William & Mary’s Abby Rendle, who had 10 against East Carolina.
Freshman Paisley Johnson chipped in seven points and three rebounds for the Cougars before fouling out with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Quotes
BYU head coach Jeff Judkins
Utah is a really good team. They and Georgia are the two best teams we’ve played so far. They execute their stuff really well and they have a lot of firepower.
Individual players
Cassie (Devashrayee)’s will to win was the difference today. I thought she and Malia (Nawahine) played really well as seniors. I think you see flashes of some good young kids I have: Brenna (Chase), Sara (Hamson) and Paisley (Johnson). Hopefully we’ll keep getting better.
Return of Sara Hamson
Getting Sara back tonight definitely made a difference. Her presence in the middle and rebounding. We try to make her speed up because she’s really good in there. What Sara does is come in and give me another good big inside that can rebound and defend.
Senior guard Cassie Devashrayee
We had a really good flow on offense, we were able to get to the basket and move the ball. We all came out with a lot of intensity and urgency, and that’s what made the difference — that’s why we won the game today.
Sara’s presence in the middle
It was huge. We were in a zone defense and they kept trying to get the ball in the middle, but every time Sara had her back, she blocked the ball. And because of those blocks, we were able to push the ball back at them. We didn’t have to take the ball out of bounds off of a make. She completely changed the game for us, added a new dynamic. We were able to play against their size, which was nice, instead of having to go small.
Senior guard Malia Nawahine
Playing Utah after playing for them last year
It was awesome. It felt great. I’m grateful for my teammates — they all played hard, everyone came in and did their job.
It was weird to play against my former teammates. They slapped me on the back a few times. It was nice, too, because I knew their tendencies and played them to my favor.
Freshman center Sara Hamson
Transitioning from playing BYU volleyball
I feel tired, but you just power through. I have a lot of catching up to do in that area of the game. It’s nice that I have girls that can finish. I can get a block, send them down the court and be waiting for the next time.