PROVO, Utah —In a four-way tie for first place with Gonzaga, Santa Clara and Pacific in the West Coast Conference 2017 race, the BYU women’s basketball team (10-7, 4-2) continues league play this week. The Cougar women travel to Malibu to take on Pepperdine (5-12, 3-3) Thursday, January 19 at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed live on the Internet at TheW.tv.
On Saturday, BYU returns home to host Pacific (8-9, 4-2) on Saturday, January 21, at 2 p.m. MT. The contest between the Cougars and Tigers will be carried live on BYUtv and simulcast on BYU Radio.
BYU AT A GLANCE
Heading into the fourth week of WCC play, the Cougar women have three players that are scoring in double digits. Junior guard Cassie Broadhead, who leads the WCC in scoring, is averaging a team-best 18.4 points and 3.9 rebounds a game. Senior guard Makenzi Pulsipher follows with her 12.9 points and 3.9 boards a contest. Senior All-American Kalani Purcell rounds out the scoring output for BYU with 12.7 points and a team- and league-high 9.9 boards per game.
After six conference games played, the Cougars are scoring 66.2 points per game while shooting 43.1 percent from the field, 34.9 percent from behind the arc and 70.3 percent from the free-throw line. The team also grabs 35.6 rebounds a contest.
In conference only stats, BYU leads in scoring margin, field goal percentage, 3-point field goal percentage and is tied with Gonzaga in assists.
• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78), 16th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #20 C. Broadhead, 18.4 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #32 K. Purcell, 9.9 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #32 K. Purcell, 4.7 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #23 M. Pulsipher/#20 C. Broadhead, 2.0 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #20 C. Broadhead/#32 K. Purcell, .88 bpg
PEPPERDINE AT A GLANCE
Pepperdine enters this week’s league action with a 5-12, 3-3 record. The Waves have captured league wins over San Diego, Gonzaga and Pacific. Pepperdine is in a three-way tie for second place in the latest league standings with San Francisco and Saint Mary’s.
The Waves return six letterwinners this season. Yasmine Robinson-Bacote tops the leaderboard in scoring for Pepperdine averaging 15.4 points and a team-best 8.6 rebounds a game. She’s followed by Allie Green who contributes 13.3 points and 4.7 boards a contest.
Pepperdine is currently averaging 59.9 points per game and shoots 35.1 percent from the field. The Waves also shoot 31.2 percent from 3-point range and 71.9 percent from the free-throw line.
• Head coach: Ryan Weisenberg (Cal Poly, ‘97), Fourth season
• Team’s leading scorer: #25 Y. Robinson-Bacote, 15.4 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #25 Y. Robinson-Bacote, 8.6 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #23 B. Sitanggan, 4.6 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #23 B. Sitanggan, 2.3 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #5 M. House, 2.2 bpg
THE SERIES
BYU leads the series 13-2. When playing in Malibu, BYU has a 4-2 mark. Head coach Jeff Judkins is 12-1 all-time against Pepperdine. In last year’s WCC race, the Cougars swept the series over the Waves. The two league foes met a third time, in the WCC Championships quarterfinal game, where BYU picked up the 72-59 win on March 4.
PACIFIC AT A GLANCE
Pacific joins BYU, Gonzaga and Santa Clara for first place in the latest WCC standings. Saturday’s game in Provo will be the second meeting between the two teams. In Stockton on January 7, the Cougars picked up a 68-55 road win. The Tigers host Saint Mary's Thursday night before making the trip to the Marriott Center.
Pacific has three players scoring in double figures, led by 13.3 points from GeAnna Luaulu-Summers with Desire Finnie contributing 12.6 points and Chelsea Lidy chipping in 10.1 points per game. In the rebounds category, Emily Simons tops the list pulling down 6.0 boards a contest.
The Tigers are scoring 75.1 points per game while shooting 43.1 percent from the field, 37.0 percent from behind the arc and 78.5 percent from the free-throw line. Pacific grabs 35.5 rebounds a game.
• Head coach: Bradley Davis (California, ‘95), Second season
• Team’s leading scorer: #15 G. Lualu-Summers, 13.2 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #5 E. Simons, 6.0 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #15 G. Luaulu-Summers, 4.9 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #15 G. Luaulu-Summers, 2.1 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #5 E. Simons, .59 bpg
THE SERIES
BYU leads the overall series against Pacific 11-3. When playing in Provo, Pacific has a 2-4 record. The last time that the Tigers won at the Marriott Center was on January 2, 2014. In that game, Pacific beat BYU 75-62. Head coach Jeff Judkins has a 6-2 record over the Tigers.
COMING UP
After Thursday’s game at Pepperdine and Saturday’s home game vs. Pacific, BYU continues league play hosting Santa Clara on Thursday, Jan. 26.