Sport

Cougars ride third quarter wave to defeat Portland 74-64

The Cougars' 33-point third quarter on Thursday night flipped the script en route to a 10-point victory over the Portland Pilots.

Author Patrick Stevenson
Cougars ride third quarter wave to defeat Portland 74-64Cougars ride third quarter wave to defeat Portland 74-64
Box Score

PROVO, Utah — After trailing at halftime, BYU women's basketball flipped the script with a 33-point third quarter en route to a 74-64 win over the Portland Pilots on Thursday night at the Marriott Center.

Similar to their season opener, the Cougars struggled to get going offensively, shooting 3 of 14 from the field and 0-for-8 from beyond the arc in the first quarter.

“It was a challenging game for us. Their style of play is hard to adjust to on a one-day prep. I thought we did a good job adjusting at halftime,” head coach Lee Cummard said. “They shot 16 free throws in the first half, only four in the second half. We had 14 turnovers in the first half and only ended up with 17. Cleaning up both of those things got us going in the second half.”

The Cougars faced their first halftime deficit of the season, trailing 34-28 at the break. BYU responded by outscoring the Pilots 33-10 in the third quarter to take a 17-point advantage into the final 10 minutes. Much of that offense came from four players who finished in double figures. Olivia Hamlin scored 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting, Prasayus Notoa (6 of 9) and Sydney Benally (4 of 7) each chipped in 13 points, and Brinley Cannon contributed 10.

BYU outrebounded Portland 52-33, with Bolanle Yussuf and Delaney Gibb leading the charge with 10 rebounds apiece. The Cougars also grabbed 22 offensive rebounds, leading to 16 second-chance points. BYU’s stout defense forced 15 Pilot turnovers, scoring 14 points off those takeaways.

First Quarter

The Cougars began the contest with two good looks from 3-point range, though Delaney Gibb and Kailey Woolston were unable to capitalize on either. Their first basket came on the fast break, as sophomore guard Olivia Hamlin finished an uncontested layup to even the score at 2-2.

BYU faced an early 6-2 deficit after back-to-back buckets from the Pilots. The lead was cut to one after Gibb scored her first field goal of the game. The Cougars took their first lead of the quarter at 10-9, with Hamlin converting three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point shot. Portland responded with a triple of its own to retake the lead and end the quarter up 14-11.

Second Quarter

Portland opened the second quarter on a 4-0 run, extending its lead to seven. Fresh off the bench, Stella Sakalas delivered the Cougars' first made 3-pointer of the half, cutting the deficit to 20-16. On the next possession, fellow freshman Prasayus Notoa drained a 3-pointer of her own to pull the Cougars within three.

The Pilots responded with their second 4-0 run of the game to push the lead to 27-19. BYU came right back down the court with three straight buckets from Sydney Benally, Notoa and Gibb to draw within two. A few trips to the free-throw line for the Pilots gave them a 34-28 halftime lead.

The Cougars’ deficit came at the hands of poor shooting, recording 31.3 percent from the field and just 11 percent from beyond the arc in the first half.

Third Quarter

Coming out of the break, the Cougars finally found their footing. Woolston knocked down her first 3-pointer of the game, and on the ensuing defensive possession, Hamlin swiped a steal and converted a layup to restore the BYU lead at 35-34.

The Cougars kept the momentum going with Notoa laying one up and in off a pick-and-roll, followed by a Brinley Cannon 3-pointer. The two buckets pushed the BYU lead to 40-35 and forced a Portland timeout. Notoa added to her stat line with a nifty steal and layup to extend the lead. The Cougars gained their first double-digit lead of the night, 56-44, on the heels of back-to-back 3-pointers from Cannon and Benally.

Over the last three minutes of the third quarter, the Cougars rattled off a 13-0 run, flipping what was a six-point halftime deficit into a 17-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Fourth Quarter

The Cougars picked up where they left off in the third quarter. Benally converted a four-point play, draining a 3-pointer while being fouled to give BYU a 20-point lead at 64-44.

The Pilots went on a 10-4 run to cut the lead to 12 with just 2:48 left to play, seeking to mount a final push. The Cougars stopped the bleeding with two free throws from Kambree Taylor to bolster the lead. In the late stages of the game, Portland upped its full-court pressure, looking to cause Cougar turnovers. Gibb handled the pressure, finding a driving Cannon who scored off the glass to push the lead to 11 with less than a minute to go. Two Benally free throws sealed a 74-64 victory for BYU.

Up Next

The Cougars will be back in action on Saturday, taking on Montana at 2 p.m. MST at the Marriott Center. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with play-by-play on BYU Radio.