First Quarter
Lauren Davenport opened her Cougar career hitting a transition triple to start the scoring for the BYU and take a 3-0 lead. On the ensuing possession, Amari Whiting earned her first points of her career with a driving floater off the glass.
After leading 5-2, the Bobcats forced five quick BYU turnovers which resulted in a 9-0 Montana State run leading to a BYU timeout. MSU extended its lead to 15-5 before Rose Bubakar ended the 13-0 Bobcat run with a mid-range jumper with 2:32 to play in the first quarter.
The Cougars shot 25 percent from the field in quarter one, hitting just one of their final nine field goals in the quarter. On the contrary, Montana State shot 31 percent from the field and converted on eight of ten trips to the line to lead 19-8 after one.
Second Quarter
Kailey Woolston opened the second with a driving layup for her first career points before Davenport converted on a pair of free throws to draw BYU within 10 points with 8:26 to go in the half.
With 7:32 to play in the second, Whiting found Woolston in the left corner for three before a defensive stop and two more free throws from Davenport drew BYU within seven. After a steal by Whiting, Davenport found Smiler for a kick-out triple to cut the MSU lead to four and cause the Bobcats to take a timeout.
Montana State retook a nine-point lead with back-to-back scores out of the timeout before Kaylee Smiler went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. After holding the Bobcats scoreless for nearly five minutes, Woolston hit a three with the shot clock expiring to draw within four. At the half, the Cougars trailed the Bobcats 32-25.
Third Quarter
After a Montana State bucket to open the third quarter, Davenport hit a corner three coming off a baseline inbounds play followed by Lauren Gustin’s first points of the game to trim the MSU lead to four.
On the next BYU possession, Whiting beat her defender and hit a one-footed runner to draw BYU within two before Woolston drove baseline and scored off the glass to knot the game at 34 with 5:33 to play in the third quarter.
Following two-straight scores by the Bobcats that put the Cougars down five, a kick-out three by Woolston cut the lead to two with Smiler following with a three of her own to claw within one. After another MSU bucket, Smiler hit her second-straight triple to again draw even.
With 2:29 to go in the third, Whiting swiped the inbounds pass and was fouled, converting on both free throws to take BYU’s first lead since the 6:13 mark of the first quarter. The Bobcats responded with a corner three to take a one-point lead into the final ten minutes.
Fourth Quarter
After MSU took a three-point lead, Whiting hit another runner, followed by three straight points from Gustin giving BYU a two-point lead. Following a Montana State miss, Whiting grabbed the board and took it coast-to-coast to extend the lead to four. Smiler added to the scoring with an up-and-under layup to stretch the advantage to six.
The Cougars held the Bobcats scoreless from the 9:40 mark of the fourth quarter, not allowing a score until there was 2:53 left. In that time, BYU opened up a 10-point lead with a jumper from Davenport and two free throws from Whiting.
The Bobcats fought the game-high 11-point lead down to eight, but two perfect trips to the line slammed the door to close out the Cougars' first win of the 2023-24 campaign, 68-60.
BYU returns to the Marriott Center for a mid-day matinee with the Weber State Wildcats at 11 a.m. MT on Friday, Nov. 10. The game will be broadcast live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ as well as on BYU Radio 107.9, byuradio.org and the BYU Radio App with Jason Shepherd on the call.
