PROVO, Utah—Morgan Bailey tied a career-high with 18 points to lead BYU women’s basketball to a 61-44 victory over Santa Clara Saturday at the Marriott Center.
"I thought the first half we played very good defense," head coach Jeff Judkins said. "We didn't score the ball very well but I thought our defense was very good. The second half we came out sluggish and weren't as sharp defensively. Morgan had another great game and I saw some very good things from the bench."
Bailey also tallied 13 rebounds to record her second straight double-double and fourth of the season. Kim Beeston contributed 12 points and Ashley Garfield hauled in 13 rebounds. Jennifer Hamson scored 6 points and had 8 rebounds.
The Cougars (16-4, 6-3) trailed 8-3 early behind two quick 3-pointers by Santa Clara (7-13, 3-6) but a 3-pointer from Beeston and a fast break layup by Kylie Maeda tied the game. A put back by Garfield gave the Cougars a 15-13 lead with nine minutes left in the half. Bailey scored three straight buckets and Beeston hit a three as part of a 25-4 run to extend the lead to 33-17 with one minute left in the half. Xojian Harry also had a three-point play during that span. Bailey had 14 points and eight rebounds in the half as the Cougars took a 33-19 lead into the break.
With 14 minutes left in the game, BYU scored seven straight to push the lead to 42-23 . After extending its lead to 21 at 47-28, Santa Clara went on a 9-2 run to cut the advantage to 14 points. A three from Ricki Radanovich and a layup by Jo Paine got Santa Clara to within 11, at 53-42 with five minutes to play, but that is as close as the Broncos would get.
Radanovish led the Broncos with 16 points. Paine contributed eight points and Marie Bertholdt had seven rebounds.
The Cougars return to action next Thursday, Jan. 30, when they travel to Moraga, Calif., to take on Saint Mary’s.
Postgame Notes
Team
The Cougars had just 10 turnovers, tying a season low.
BYU shot 32 percent from the field and held the Broncos to 26 percent shooting.
The Broncos outscored the Cougars with points from the bench, 28-11.
Santa Clara led by as many as five points with 14:48 left to go in the first half. BYU had its largest lead at 21 with 11:42 left in the second half.
Player
Morgan Bailey led all scorers in the first half with 14 points and eight rebounds. She finished the game with a double-double, tying her career-high 18 points and adding 13 rebounds.
Ashley Garfield finished the game grabbing 13 boards for the Cougars, her second-straight game in double digit rebounds. She also recorded three assists, a team-high in that category.
Kim Beeston was the only other Cougar to score in double figures, getting 12 points. It was her 14th game of the season and fourth straight scoring in double figures.