LARAMIE, Wyo. — Despite erasing a 16-point deficit, BYU women’s basketball’s comeback effort fell short as the Cougars fell to the Wyoming Cowgirls 86-74 on Tuesday night.
After being down 16 in the second quarter and 12 with 7:58 left to play, the Cougars went on a 15-2 run over the next 3:13 to take a one-point lead with 4:21 remaining which included eight points from Emma Calvert, four points from Gustin and three from Whiting.
BYU outshot Wyoming 54-53 percent, however, the Cowgirls registered 10 more shot attempts, outrebounded the Cougars 28-27 and scored 48 points in the paint to BYU’s 38, as well as 20 second-chance points to the Cougars' two.
Lauren Gustin led the Cougars with a season-high 26 points on 12-19 shooting. The senior was perfect from the foul line going 2-for-2, with eight rebounds and four assists on the night.
Emma Calvert and Amari Whiting each finished with 14 points apiece. Whiting went 2-for-3 from distance and 4-for-8 from the field while registering four assists, three rebounds, a block and a steal in the loss. Calvert was 5-for-7 from the field including going 3-of-5 from downtown. She also notched two blocks, one rebound, one assist, and a steal.
First Quarter
Gustin scored the first six points for the Cougars to open the game and take a 6-5 lead with 7:34 left in the quarter. The Cowgirls then jumped on BYU with seven-straight points to take a 12-6 advantage. After 2-for-2 trips to the line for Nani Falatea and Amari Whiting, Wyoming scored seven of the next nine points to extend its lead to nine with 3:19 left in the quarter.
BYU shot 50 percent from the field in the opening quarter but three turnovers and a Cowgirls shot 53.8 percent from the field in the opening 10 minutes to take a nine-point lead into the second quarter, 28-19.
Second Quarter
The Cougars held Wyoming scoreless through the first 4:21 of the second quarter and cut the lead to five with a scoop-and-score followed by Gustin who scored with a kiss off the glass. The Cowgirls swiftly responded with nine-straight points to take their largest lead of the game at 37-23 with 2:55 to play in the half.
After a steal by Falatea, she found Gustin in transition for her seventh score of the game to cut the lead to 12 before two-consecutive Wyoming scores to stretch the lead to a season-high deficit for BYU. Calvert trimmed the lead to 13 at the half with a top-of-the-key triple on the Cougars' final possession.
BYU trailed 41-28 at the half.
Third Quarter
The Cougars came out of halftime on a mission, forcing a turnover on the first Cowgirl possession and paying it off with a backdoor layup by Woolston. Smiler followed with a steal of her own which Woolston also capitalized on with a left-corner triple to cut the Wyoming lead to eight just 59 seconds into the third.
BYU and Wyoming seesawed between an eight and 10-point deficit until the 5:22 mark when a Gustin score and a Woolston’s scoop off the glass cut the lead to six. The Cowgirls scored six of the next eight points to retake a 12-point lead before BYU scored the final three points of the quarter to trail 47-55 going into the final 10 minutes.
Fourth Quarter
After the Cowgirls increased their advantage to 12 with 7:58 to play, BYU rattled off a 15-2 run, making all of its next seven field goal attempts to take a one-point lead with 4:21 to play.
Calvert scored five-straight points with a layup and another three from the top of the arc followed by a corner three from Whiting. After two Wyoming free throws, Gustin scored off the glass followed by Calvert’s third three of the night and another layup for Gustin to take the lead.
The Cowgirls again answered with a 15-2 run of their own to retake a 12-point lead and force BYU to begin the foul game. Wyoming finished the game going 8-for-8 from the line and a layup with nine seconds to hand the Cougars its first loss of the season, 86-74.
BYU will travel 45 minutes north on Saturday, Dec. 2 to take on the No. 12 Utah Utes at the John M. Huntsman Center. The Cougars and Utes will tip off at 7 p.m. MT with the game broadcast live on the Pac 12 Network. Fans can also tune in for live play-by-play with Jason Shepherd on BYU Radio 107.9 FM or BYU Radio.org/BYU Radio app.