PROVO, Utah – BYU women’s basketball fell to the No. 18 Gonzaga Bulldogs 58-51 at the Marriott Center on Saturday afternoon on senior day.
"I am really proud of my women today," BYU head coach Amber Whiting said. "They battled and fought, shots just didn't fall. These are the games we can learn from but next time I know those shots will fall. I just have to keep their heads up and keep them in the moment of that nature.”
BYU (14-14, 9-8) held Gonzaga to just 58 points, a season low, and battled to a one-point game with 2:13 remaining but couldn't retake a late lead and fell to the West Coast Conference regular-season champions.
Sophomore forward Emma Calvert scored a career-high 17 points to lead the Cougars Calvert connected on her first six attempts from the floor for 15 first-half points to best her previous career high of 13. She also finished with seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block.
Forward Lauren Gustin, the nation's leading rebounder grabbed 13 boards while going 4-for-7 from the floor for eight points. Arielle Mackey-Williams also chipped in 11 points and four rebounds.
The Cougar defense held the No. 1 three-point shooting team in the country to 2-for-15 shooting from behind the arc on the day. BYU forced 11 Bulldog turnovers including six steals and a block in the seven-point defeat.
First Half
Gonzaga scored the first points of the game and quickly jumped out to an early 5-0 lead. Gustin scored the first bucket for BYU with a lay-in cutting its deficit to 5-2 with 5:14 left in the first. A three-pointer from Arielle Mackey-Williams tied the game at five with just over four minutes remaining in the quarter.
The Cougars and Bulldogs exchanged buckets as the game was tied at 12 at the conclusion of the first quarter.
BYU took its first lead of the game with 7:50 to go in the second on a three-pointer from Calvert, which gave BYU a 17-16 advantage. Later BYU extended its lead to 29-22 following a three from Nani Falatea and two made free throws by Mackey-Williams.
A 7-0 run for the Cougars helped propel BYU to a 31-22 lead with just over a minute remaining in the half.
BYU finished the first half shooting 48 percent from the field, going 11-of-23, and 40 percent from the three-point line. Finishing the first half with 15 points, Calvert led all scorers. The Cougars went into the locker room leading the Zags 31-27.
Second Half
BYU started the second half with a layup made by Mackey-Williams, extending its lead to 33-27. But a 5-0 run by Gonzaga helped cut their deficit to 33-32 with just under seven minutes remaining in the quarter.
The Zags took their first lead of the second half as they led 34-33, but the Cougars retook the lead with a made jumper by Mackey-Williams to lead 35-34.
A 4-0 run from Gonzaga gave them a 38-35 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Gustin scored the first points of the final quarter with a layup assisted by Calvert and later BYU took a 41-40 lead following another lay-in by Gustin with under eight minutes remaining in the game.
Back-and-forth scores from BYU and Gonzaga knotted the score at 45 before Gonzaga took a two-point lead 47-45 with just under three minutes remaining.
Following back-to-back layups from Gustin and Mackey-Williams, BYU cut the deficit to 50-49, but following two made free throws from the Zags, the Cougars trailed by three with just over a minute remaining and couldn't cut it any closer down the stretch.
Up next, BYU takes on Portland in the Marriott Center on Monday, Feb. 27 at 4 pm MT. The game will be streamed on the BYUtv App and BYUtv.org.