OGDEN, Utah—Ending a tough three-game road schedule, the BYU women’s basketball team took down Weber State 84-67 Saturday night on the Wildcats’ home court.
“We had a really great defensive effort in the first half,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “When they cut into our lead, we still executed and got what we needed. Our bigs were very active inside and did a nice job for us.”
Freshman Lexi Eaton and sophomore Kim Parker led the Cougars with 12 points apiece and Dani Peterson had 11. Haley Steed led the defense with nine defensive rebounds and 10 total. Steed also had five assists. Dual-sport athlete Jennifer Hamson had nine points and seven rebounds following a successful volleyball victory Saturday afternoon, where she totaled 16 kills.
The Cougars shot 48.3 percent and had 16 assists, but got into foul trouble during the game with 17 fouls. They held the Wildcats to 36.8 percent shooting and forced 14 Weber State turnovers.
Two free throws and a quick layup pushed the Cougars to a 4-2 lead to launch the game. After more than two minutes without a basket, Eaton’s fast break layup kicked off a 9-2 scoring streak to push BYU’s lead to 17-8. With 10:15 left in the first half, Alexis Kaufusi took it to the hoop with the help of Stephanie Rovetti to more than double the Wildcats’ score at 21-10. The basket was part of an 8-0 Cougar run.
Eaton and Stephanie Vermunt each scored eight points in the first half, helping BYU to a 48-28 lead going into halftime.
BYU stumbled coming out of the locker room, allowing Weber State two 6-2 runs to begin the second half. The Wildcats cut the lead to 52-40. Missed shots plagued the Cougars, allowing the Wildcats to continue chipping away at the BYU lead.
A Parker jump shot started a 10-2 to bring the Cougars back to life, giving them a 12-point lead. BYU fired off 12 points, eight of which came from free throws, to end the game 84-67.
BYU celebrates the Thanksgiving holiday hosting Wisconsin Wednesday at 5 p.m. and Eastern Washington Saturday at 2 p.m. Saturday is Family Day at the Marriott Center, when admission is $10 per family.
Postgame Notes
Team
For the third time on the season, the Cougars outrebounded their opponents in the Weber State game. BYU grabbed 43 to the Wildcats 36.
In the game at Weber State, BYU dished out 16 assists to the Wildcats 10, marking the third time this year that the Cougars have tallied more assists then their opponents.
Three Cougars finished with double figures in points marking the third time on the year that three players have finished with double digits. Eaton and Kim Parker had 12 points each while Dani Peterson tallied 11 points for season highs.
In the contest at Weber State, the Cougars shot (.483, 28-58) which is the team’s best field goal percentage to date.
Player
For the second straight time true freshman Lexi Eaton was perfect from the free throw line. Against Weber State she went 4-4.
Senior co-captain Haley Steed (Hall) led the way in the rebound category grabbing a team and game high 10 boards. Steed also had dished out the most assists in the game with five.
Sophomore center Jennifer Hamson recorded three blocks for season highs in that category. The blocks were also team and game highs.