PROVO, Utah—Riding a three-game win streak, the BYU women’s basketball team (12-7, 6-2) remains tied with Gonzaga for first place in the latest West Coast Conference standings.
BYU vs. Santa Clara Game Notes
On tap for this week, the Cougar women host Santa Clara (9-10, 4-4) Thursday, Jan. 26, at 7 p.m. MT. The contest between the Cougars and Broncos will be carried live on BYUtv and simulcast on BYU Radio.
On Saturday, Jan. 28, BYU travels to Los Angeles to battle LMU (8-11, 3-5) at 2 p.m. PT. That game can be heard live on BYU Radio and can be streamed on the Internet at TheW.tv.
BYU AT A GLANCE
Junior guard Cassie Broadhead, who leads the WCC in scoring, is one of three Cougar players putting up double-digit points, averaging a team-best 18.4 points and 4.2 rebounds a game. Senior guard Makenzi Pulsipher is next contributing 12.9 points and 3.7 boards to the Cougars’ offensive threat. Senior All-American Kalani Purcell and this week’s WCC Player of the Week, rounds out the scoring output for BYU with a double-double 12.4 points and a team-and league-high 10.0 boards per game.
Heading into the fifth week of conference play, the Cougars are scoring 66.6 points per game while shooting 43.0 percent from the field, 35.0 percent from behind the arc and 70.1 percent from the free-throw line. The team also grabs 35.8 rebounds a contest.
BYU leads in assists, in 3-point field goals made, field goal percentage, rebounding defense and in field goal percentage defense in conference-only stats. They rank second in steals, rebounding margin and in assist/turnover ratio.
• 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, 10.0 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #32 K. Purcell, 4.9 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #23 Pulsipher/#20 Broadhead/#32 Purcell, 2.1 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #20 C. Broadhead, 1.0 bpg
SANTA CLARA AT A GLANCE
Entering the fifth week of the WCC regular season race, Santa Clara has compiled a (9-10, 4-4) record. They are tied for third place with Pacific in the most updated WCC standings.
The Broncos have league wins over BYU, Portland, LMU and Pepperdine. Thursday night’s game in Provo will be the second meeting between the two teams. In Los Angeles on December 29, SCU picked up a 64-63 win.
Santa Clara has four players scoring in double figures, led by Lori Parkinson’s 12.4 points and a team-best 7.9 rebounds per game. Emily Wolph is next contributing 12.1 points with teammate Morgan McGuire chipping in 11.1 points a contest. Marie Bertholdt is the fourth player with double-digit scoring and she puts up 10.1 points a game.
The Broncos score 62.1 points a game and shoot 39.0 percent from the field, 31.2 percent from 3-point range and 72.3 percent from the charity stripe. SCU pulls down 38.1 rebounds a game.
• Head coach: Bill Carr (USF, ‘87), First season
• Team’s leading scorer: #20 L. Parkinson, 12.4 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #20 L. Parkinson, 7.9 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #25 E. Wolph, 4.0 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #20 L. Parkinson, 2.0 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #32 M. McGwire, 1.3 bpg
THE SERIES
BYU leads the series 13-2. This will be the second time these two league foes have played. In the first game on Dec. 29 in Los Angeles, the Broncos picked up the one-point 64-63 victory. Four BYU players recorded double figures in points in the contest, led by 21 points from Broadhead, 15 from Purcell, 13 from Pulsipher and a career-high 10 points from Salmon. The Cougars shot 46.7 percent from the field and had season-best shooting from 3-point range (60.0) and from the free-throw line (93.8).
McGwire, Wolph and Bertholdt all had double digits in points with 16, 14 and 11, respectively. Santa Clara shot 42.9 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from behind the arc and 58.8 percent from the charity stripe.
LMU AT A GLANCE
Loyola Marymount has compiled an 8-11, 3- 5 record to date getting league wins over Pepperdine, Portland and Santa Clara. When playing at home, LMU has a 5-5 record including a 3-1 mark in WCC play. The Lions are at Pacific on Thursday before hosting BYU on Saturday afternoon. This will be the second time the two league foes have played this season. In the first game played in Provo on Dec. 31, the Cougars got the 76-59 home win.
Jackie Johnson leads the way in scoring for the Lions with 16.2 points and a team-high 9.4 boards a contest. Cheyanne Wallace tallies 12.8 points a game with teammate Leslie Lopez-Woods putting up 11.9 points a contest.
LMU is shooting 38.8 percent from the field and 68.4 percent from the free-throw line while scoring 63.8 points and pulling down 37.3 boards a game.
• Head coach: Charity Elliott (Southwest Missouri State, ‘92), Fifth season
• Team’s leading scorer: #43 J. Johnson, 16.2 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #43 J. Johnson, 9.4 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #11 A. Velasco, 5.3 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #43 J. Johnson, 1.8 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #43 J. Johnson, 2.6 bpg
THE SERIES
BYU leads the series 13-1. When playing in Los Angeles, BYU has a 4-1 mark. Head coach Jeff Judkins is 11-1 vs. the Lions.
COMING UP
After Thursday’s home game against SCU and Saturday’s road game at LMU, the Cougar women continue league play on the road. They are at Gonzaga on Thursday, Feb. 2 and at Portland on Saturday, Feb. 4.