PROVO, Utah -- BYU women’s basketball picked up its first loss of the season, falling to Utah 82-74 in double-overtime Saturday in the Deseret First Duel.

"We missed opportunities that we've capitalized on this year," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "We have to give Utah a lot of credit, but we just need to do a better job of executing both offensively and defensively. This team will bounce back. We've won a lot of games by making plays, and tonight it just didn't go for us."

Highlights and Interviews

The Cougars (9-1) were outscored 15-7 in the second overtime, highlighted by Utah’s Michelle Plouffe scoring nine points. Plouffe’s 3 opened the period and was followed by back-to-back buckets from Nakia Arquette to give the Utes (5-4) a seven-point lead. The Cougars cut the lead to five on Kim Beeston’s three with one minute to play, but Plouffe’s six free throws iced the game.

BYU was led by Lexi Eaton’s 20 points and five assists. Morgan Bailey had 16 points, and Kylie Maeda and Beeston chipped in 12 each. Plaugued by early foul trouble, Jennifer Hamson had a near double-double with nine points and 12 rebounds. Plouffe led all scorers with 24.

With BYU trailing by one with 18 seconds left in the first overtime, Eaton drove to the left side of the lane and kicked to Bailey, who hit her fourth 3-pointer of the game with just under 10 seconds left to give the Cougars a 67-65 lead. After a Ute timeout, Plouffe made a driving layup to tie the game at 67 and send the game into another overtime.

Trailing by one at half, the Utes started on a 9-3 run to take a 42-37 lead in the second. Hamson scored the Cougars’ next five points and a trey by Xojian Harry capped an 8-1 run to give them a 45-43 lead. After a 6-0 Utah run, Maeda hit back-to-back 3s to give BYU a 55-54 lead. Down 62-60, Plouffe hit a jumper to tie the game with under a minute left. After a BYU miss, the Utes failed to get a shot off before the shot clock expired and left just two seconds for BYU to try a final shot. Maeda’s half court heave bounced off the rim, forcing the first overtime.

In the first half, the teams battled to an early tie at 11. Utah used a 12-2 run to take a 10-point lead with just under 10 minutes left in the half, capped off by a four-point play from point guard Danielle Rodriguez. Bailey hit her third 3-pointer  of the half and Eaton had a three-point play to key a 9-0 run to tie the game at 27 with four minutes left. Eaton’s long trey gave the Cougars a 32-31 lead, their first lead since the second minute of the game. The half would end with the Cougars leading 34-33. Bailey’s 13 points led BYU, and Utah’s Emily Potter had 14 to lead all scorers in the half. Eaton also chipped in 12 first-half points. 

The Cougars return to action Dec. 21 at home against Utah State. The game will be broadcast live on BYUtv. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. MST.

BYU vs. Utah Postgame Notes 12-14-13

Team

Despite poor shooting to start the game, BYU finished the first half shooting 43.8 percent from the field. The Cougars overcame a 10-point deficit to take a 34-33 lead going into halftime.

Two Cougars, Lexi Eaton and Morgan Bailey, reached double figures in points before halftime. Kylie Maeda and Kim Beeston joined them in double figures by the end of the game with 12 apiece.

BYU had an 11-0 run late in the second half to retake the lead with 5:30 to play.

The Cougars played in their second overtime of the season vs. Utah and went into double overtime for the first time this season.

BYU shot 35.7 percent from the field and 40 from 3-point range.

BYU won the assist battle 22-19 while the Utes won in rebounds 44-42.

Attendance at the game was 1,079.

The loss was BYU’s first of the season. BYU falls to 9-1, while Utah improves to 5-4.

The last time Utah defeated BYU was in the Mountain West Conference semifinal game March 11, 2011.

Player

Lexi Eaton led the Cougars with 20 points. She also had four rebounds and five assists.

Morgan Bailey drained a career-high three 3-pointers in the first half and added another with 10 seconds left in overtime to put BYU in the lead 67-65. She finished with 16 points and four treys, shooting 100 percent from beyond the arc.

Kylie Maeda set a new career high of four 3-pointers after draining three treys in the second half. Maeda finished with 12 points, also a career high, and four assists.

Kim Beeston recorded 12 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Cougars.

Jennifer Hamson led the team in rebounds with 12 and was one point shy of a double-double with nine.

With the come from behind 90-85 road victory over Weber State, BYU women’s basketball improved its record to 9-0 on the season, the best start in the program’s history.

About BYU
The Cougars return to the Marriott Center to play their second of three in-state rivals. BYU hosts the University of Utah in the Deseret First Duel on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 2 p.m. On Saturday, Dec. 21 they will host Utah State. The Cougars and Utes game will air live on BYUtv.

BYU has three players scoring in double figures led by Jennifer Hamson who is scoring 19.0 points per game and has scored in double digits in all games played. Lexi Eaton follows with 16.6 points per game with Kim Beeston contributing 11.6 points.

As a team, the Cougar women are averaging 73 points per game and holding opponents to 64 points. BYU has recorded more blocks than opponents in all games and has dished out more assists in eight of the nine games played to date. In seven contests the team pulled down more rebounds than its opponent.

In the coaches’ preseason poll, BYU was picked to finish fourth in the West Coast Conference regular season race behind San Diego, Saint Mary’s and league favorite Gonzaga. Senior center Jennifer Hamson was named to the preseason all-conference team, her second such honor.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78) enters his 13th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #5 Jennifer Hamson, 19.0 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #5 J. Hamson, 10.0 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #4 Kim Beeston, 4.2 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #4 Beeston, 1.4 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #5 Hamson, 4.3 bpg

About Utah
The University of Utah comes to Provo with a 4-4 record, capturing wins over Denver, UNLV, Nevada and Utah Valley University.

The Utes return nine letterwinners including three starters from last year’s team that went 23-14 and advanced to the championship game of the WNIT.

Utah was picked to finish 7th in the Pac-12 Preseason coaches poll.

• Head coach: Anthony Levrets (Lafayette, 2001) 4th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #15 Michelle Plouffe, 19.0 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #15 Plouffe, 11.3 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #22 Danielle Rodriguez, 5.4 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #15 Plouffe, 2.0 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #12 Emily Potter, 1.5 bpg

Series History
Utah leads the series 61-40.

Last Meeting
These two in-state foes met last season at the Huntsman Center on Dec. 8, 2012, with BYU picking up the 53-48 victory.

Haley Steed led the BYU effort with 22 points with Stephanie Seaborn coming off the bench to contribute 12 points, the only two players for the Cougars who finished in double figures in scoring.

The Cougars shot 35 percent from the field and 81 percent from 3-point range, while pulling down 38 rebounds compared with 35 for the Utes. Utah shot 26 percent from the field and seven percent from behind the arc.

BYU took a 28-21 advantage at halftime and was up 49-48 after a 3-pointer from Seaborn with 1:45 left in the game.

On the next possession, Steed grabbed a Utah miss then was fouled sending her to the line where she made both to put the Cougars up 51-48.

The Utes missed a shot on their next possession and after Steed grabbed the rebound was fouled and went to the free throw line, making both to seal the win at 53-48.

Up Next
The Cougar women play one more game at home before preparing for the West Coast Conference portion of the 2013-14 campaign. BYU battles its third in-state rival, Utah State on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 2 p.m. The game can be seen live on BYUtv.

BYU opens up the WCC race with four straight home games. They host LMU on Saturday, Dec. 28 and Pepperdine on Monday, Dec. 30.

The following week league newcomer Pacific comes to the Marriott Center on Thursday, Jan. 2. On Saturday, Jan. 4 the Cougar women host Saint Mary’s.