SPOKANE, Wash. — BYU women’s basketball dropped its last conference game on Saturday, losing to Gonzaga 62-37 on the road at McCarthey Athletic Center.
“We played a good defensive game,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said, “but missed out on a lot of opportunities to score. We have to start the game better when we play big teams like Gonzaga.”
Brenna Chase led the Cougars with 10 points, going 2 of 6 from behind the arc. Malia Nawahine chipped in eight points for BYU, while Cassie Broadhead Devashrayee had seven points in the loss. Amanda Wayment recorded a team-high nine rebounds.
After BYU notched the early 2-0 lead, Gonzaga went on a 14-0 run to claim the 14-2 advantage and force a Cougar timeout with 3:14 left in the first quarter. The Bulldogs took the 16-2 lead into the second quarter. BYU’s two points in the first quarter are the least amount of points the Cougars have scored in a 10-minute period all season.
A Chase 3-pointer brought BYU within 10, 18-8, but on the next Gonzaga possession Emma Stach knocked down a 3 of her own to help the Bulldogs retake the 13-point, 21-8 lead.
After finding themselves down by 19, 27-8, the Cougars scored five-straight points to cut the Bulldog lead to 14, 27-13. Gonzaga finished the half strong, taking the 33-15 lead into halftime.
A trey by Chase followed by a steal and a layup by Nawahine brought BYU within 12, 33-21, just before the third-quarter media timeout. The Cougars held the Bulldogs scoreless in the third quarter, until Stach hit her second 3 at the 4:46 minute mark to put Gonzaga up 15, 36-21. The Bulldogs then closed out the third quarter outscoring the Cougars nine to six.
With 7:18 on the fourth-quarter clock, Liz Eaton drove to the hoop and scored to make the score 49-31. Gonzaga logged its largest lead of the game, 60-31, as Stach drained her third 3-pointer of the game at the four-minute mark. The Cougars tallied their seventh conference loss, losing to the Bulldogs 62-37.
BYU will travel to Las Vegas to compete in the 2018 West Coast Conference Tournament March 1-6. The Cougars await their seeding and opponent.
Postgame Notes at Gonzaga (2/24/18)
Team
BYU shot a low 20.8 percent from the field in the first half and went 3 of 4 from the free-throw line. The Cougars finished the game shooting 23.2 percent from the field, 72.7 percent from the free-throw line and just 18.8 percent from behind the arc.
The Bullldogs had the advantage in rebounds after two periods of play, with 23 to the Cougars' 15. For the game, Gonzaga grabbed 43 boards, while BYU pulled down 41.
BYU recorded six blocks, with Gonzaga logging seven.
Player
Brenna Chase scored seven points in the first half and was the only BYU player with double-digit points, with 10 heading into the fourth period. Chase also recorded two steals and dished out two assists.
Amanda Wayment led the way in rebounds through the first 20 minutes of action with six. She finished with a team-best nine boards.
Sara Hamson recorded a team-best three blocks, while pulling down a total of six rebounds.
Cassie Broadhead Devashrayee finished the game with seven points, six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal.
Malia Nawahine scored eight points, grabbed six rebounds, dished out two assists and had two steals.