Cougars stay perfect behind a career-high 23 from Hudgins

MISSOULA, Mont. — BYU women’s basketball stays perfect as the Cougars knocked off the Montana Lady Griz 70-69 at Dahlberg Arena on Wednesday night.

“The girls fought really hard tonight, and it takes everybody to win a game like that when you are on the road,” head coach Lee Cummard said. “Our team is going to learn a lot from this experience, especially for those who haven’t played true road games in college yet. We still have a lot to work on, but I am thrilled with how our team fought to win this game.”

The Cougars trailed Montana 69-64 with 3:37 remaining before putting together five defensive stops in a row to hold the Lady Griz scoreless over the final 3:37. In that time, Marya Hudgins and Arielle Mackey-Williams combined for six-straight points to earn the Cougars a 70-69 victory.

Hudgins led the way for the Cougars, scoring a career-high 23 points on 7-of-15 shooting, going 7-for-9 from the charity stripe and knocking down two key triples. The redshirt junior also recorded four rebounds, two assists and two steals in the win.

Olivia Hamlin and Lara Rohkohl were the other two Cougars to finish in double figures with 12 and 10 points apiece. Hamlin also turned in eight rebounds to go along with an assist, a steal and a block. Rohkohl was 5-of-6 from the floor with nine rebounds, four coming on the offensive glass, and two steals in the win.

The Cougars only dressed nine players on Wednesday against the Lady Griz, which led to Mackey-Williams playing a season-high 27 minutes on the guard line. The redshirt junior, who missed the last two seasons due to injury, scored eight key points, including a left-corner triple to knot the game at 69 with 2:03 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Hudgins then knocked down the game-winning free throw with 1:13 remaining to give BYU a 70-69 road win and preserve the Cougars’ perfect 5-0 start.

First Quarter

The Cougars and Lady Griz traded baskets over the first 4:09 and were knotted at eight before a bucket by Cannon gave BYU a 10-8 lead. After a Montana turnover, Hudgins knocked down the Cougars’ first three of the night to push the lead to 13-8 with 4:57 left in the first.

Hudgins' three also marked the 800^th consecutive game with a made triple for BYU. The Cougars' 800-game streak with a made three is the second-longest active streak in women's NCAA basketball and the third-longest streak in NCAA women's basketball history.

After the Cougars stretched the lead to seven, back-to-back Montana threes with 1:34 to go in the quarter cut the lead to just one point after the opening frame.

Second Quarter

Following a Montana triple, Hudgins opened the second with a personal 7-0 run to give BYU a 27-22 advantage midway through the period. The Cougars would push the lead to as many as seven on two occasions, but a late score by the Lady Grizz pulled them within four at the half.

The four-point advantage marks BYU’s fifth-consecutive game holding the lead at the break. It also matches the slimmest lead held by the Cougars this season; however, BYU went on to beat Fresno State by 20 last Saturday.

Third Quarter

The third quarter was a back-and-forth affair. BYU pushed the lead to six before an 8-0 run over 1:45 to retake a two-point lead with 6:57 left in the third. The Cougars rattled off six-straight points to flip the advantage to four in favor of the visitors.

The last four minutes featured the Lady Grizz outscoring BYU 9-5 to cut the lead to one at the quarter break.

Fourth Quarter

BYU opened the fourth with back-to-back buckets by Rohkohl to retake a five-point lead just 50 seconds into the quarter. Over the next 5:13, the Lady Griz outscored the Cougars 11-3 to take a five-point advantage with less than five minutes to play. 

Cummard's squad showed no quit as they held Montana scoreless over the final 3:37, with five defensive stops in a row to close the contest. In that time, Mackey-Williams and Hudgins scored six unanswered points that gave BYU a 70-69 lead with 1:13 remaining. The run included a left-corner triple from Mackey-Williams, just the fifth three made by the Cougars all night, which knotted the game at 69 before Hudgins drained the game-winning free throw. 

Up Next

BYU returns home to face a second-straight Big Sky team as the Weber State Wildcats visit the Marriott Center on Saturday, Nov. 22. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. MT with the game streamed on ESPN+. Fans can also tune in for live play-by-play with Jason Shepherd on BYU Radio 107.9, byuradio.org and the BYU Radio app.