PROVO, Utah – Cassie Broadhead Devashrayee led the BYU women's basketball team to an overtime 75-67 win against Southern Utah University, in its first regular season game Friday night at the Marriott Center.
"First of all, you have to give Southern Utah a lot of credit. They were really scrappy tonight and played really well,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “But, I’m really proud of my team. I think they really showed their character tonight in the last three minutes being down 10 and just fighting and doing what they needed to do to win.”
Devashrayee had a game-high 25 points and four rebounds and four assists. Shalae Salmon recorded her first career double-double with a career-high 12 points and 17 rebounds. Malia Nawahine and Brenna Chase also scored in double figures, logging 19 points and 10 points, respectively.
The Cougars (1-0) started the game out strong with a jumper from Devashrayee and a layup from Amanda Wayment to give BYU the early 4-0 lead. BYU continued to increase its lead, making the score 11-2 in the first four minutes. However, the Thunderbirds (0-1) fought back, narrowing the margin to three points. Near the end of the first quarter, back-to-back baskets from Salmon, a three-pointer from Nawahine and a layup from Devashrayee put the Cougars up by double digits, 23-11.
BYU continued its momentum going into the second quarter with back-to-back baskets from Devashrayee, increasing its lead to 17 points. However, SUU sped up the Cougar offense and forced BYU to commit turnovers. The Thunderbirds went on a 14-0 run to make the score 32-29. BYU was able to maintain a narrow lead going into halftime, 34-31.
The momentum of the game shifted, as SUU took control in the third quarter on a 3-pointer to tie the game at 34-all. On their next possession, a layup by Breanu Reid gave the Thunderbirds their first lead of the game, 36-34. SUU was able to maintain its lead through the entire quarter.The Cougars managed to bring the score within one but were unable to stop the Thunderbirds and ended the period down, 47-43.
Going into the fourth period, SUU continued to dominate with two free-throws making the score, 49-43. However, the Cougars answered back late. Two Chase 3-pointers brought BYU’s momentum back, as the Cougars went on a 7-0 run to take 61-58 lead. With 1:11 left in the fourth quarter, Devashrayee hit a three-pointer tying the game 61-61 to send the game into overtime.
Both teams went scoreless for the first three minutes of overtime until Devashrayee hit another 3-pointer, putting the Cougars ahead for the first time since the second quarter, 64-61. BYU then went on a 11-1 run to win the game 75-67.
The Cougars travel to Seattle to take on Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 15, at 7:00 p.m PST at the Alaska Airlines Arena. The game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 video stream with live stats available on the BYU women's basketball schedule page.
Game Notes
Team
BYU led 23-11 after the first quarter. SUU outscored BYU 20-11 in the second quarter, cutting the Cougar lead to three, 34-31, as teams headed into halftime. After trailing 61-51, BYU closed out the game on a 10-0 run to force overtime.
Four Cougars scored in double figures in BYU’s home opener: Devashrayee (25), Nawahine (19), Salmon (12), Chase (10).
BYU outrebounded SUU 51 to 46 and the Cougars dished out more assists (18) than SUU (14).
BYU scored 28 points in the paint to SUU’s 22, while the Thunderbirds finished with 21 bench points to the Cougar’s five.
Player
Shalae Salmon scored eight first-quarter points. Salmon finished the game with 12 points and 17 rebounds to record her first career double-double. Salmon’s 17 rebounds are a career high. She also tallied a career- and game-high three steals and matched a career-high in assists with three.
Cassie Broadhead Devashrayee led all scorers with 10 points in the first half. Devashrayee scored a game-high 25 points to record her 36th double-digit performance and 15th 20-point game.
Malia Nawahine went 3 of 7 from the 3-point line and scored 19 points in her BYU debut. Nawahine also finished the contest with six rebounds and a team-high five assists.
Brenna Chase chipped in 10 points for the Cougars, and finished the game with three rebounds and two assists.
Amanda Wayment brought down seven rebounds.