PROVO, Utah – Seniors Jennifer Hamson and Kim Beeston scored a combined 46 points to lead BYU women’s basketball to an 84-74 victory against Utah State Saturday afternoon.

“I thought we handled (our) zone (defense) very well,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “I thought we made some good adjustments at the second half with it. We haven’t played it a lot so we made some mistakes we shouldn’t have, but for the most part I thought we did a good job.”

BYU (10-1) held the Aggies (6-4) to 38 percent shooting from the field and 29 percent from the 3-point line.

Hamson led the team once again with 24 points, 12 rebounds and 17 free-throw attempts. Beeston followed with 22 points, shooting 5 of 9 from the 3-point line.

The Aggies started the game strong, pressuring the Cougars defensively with two defenders on the ball and matching the Cougars baskets.

Hamson scored 11 points under the basket in the first half, while Beeston drained three 3-pointers in the first ten minutes of the game. She totaled 15 points at the half.

With 1:30 left in the first half the Aggies finally managed to tie the game at 37-37. Beeston made it to the line twice, and Stephanie Rovetti once to help the Cougars regain the lead. In the final seconds of the first half, Makenzi Morrison hit her second 3-pointer of the game to leave the score 46-41 at the half.

The Aggies worked to earn their points back at the start of the second half, tying the game at 47-47. The Cougars then went on a 10-1 run in attempt to pull away. Lexi Eaton and Beeston each hit a three and Ashley Garfield played aggressively to make it to the line and keep the ball in BYU hands. Garfield earned a career-high seven assists with a season-high 15 rebounds.

The Cougars took their largest lead of the game, 65-56 after yet another three by Beeston with 10:44 left in the first half.

Franny Vaaulu and Elise Nelson of Utah State fouled out with under 10 minutes to go. The Aggie offense worked hard to break the Cougars defense and closed the gap to 68-65 with five minutes to go.

An intentional foul from Utah State’s Makenlee Williams put Eaton on the line for two extra points. Kylie Maeda nailed the coffin in the final minute with a hard drive down the lane for a jumper and two points at the line to end the game 84-74.

BYU vs. Utah State Postgame Notes Dec. 21, 2013

Player Notes

Jennifer Hamson scored seven of BYU's first nine points and reached double digits with 1:45 left in the first half. She finished with a double-double recording 12 rebounds, two blocks and an assist to go with her team-high 24 points.

Kim Beeston was 3 of 5 on 3-pointers for an 18-11 lead midway through the first half. Beeston reached double digits with 2:30 left in the first half. She finished with a season-high 22 points to go with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.This was her second game this season scoring 20+ points.

Ashley Garfield set a career high in assists and a season high for rebounds. She finished with 15 rebounds, nine points, seven assists and a steal.

Makenzi Morrison hit three 3-pointers in the first half for all her scoring. The nine points and three 3-pointers are season highs for the freshman.

Team Notes

Five-0 and 6-0 runs kept the Cougars up seven in the first half at 18-11 and 21-14. Utah State made four straight buckets late in the half, but BYU made 7 of their last 8 to go in with a five-point lead.

A 10-1 run from 16:53 until 14:05 in the second half put BYU up 57-48 thanks to a Lexi Eaton 3-pointer, two free throws from Garfield, a Beeston 3-pointer and a Hamson layup.

BYU shot 47 percent from the field and from behind the arc. The Cougars held Utah State to 38 percent from the field and 29 percent from behind the arc.

The Cougars fell one assist short of their season-high 23 assists against Washington State. The 22 assists came from seven different players. Kylie Maeda, Beeston, Stephanie Rovetti and Garfield each had three or more.

ABOUT BYU
BYU women’s basketball dropped its first game of the season 74-82 in double overtime against Utah. The loss leaves the Cougars tied for their best start in program history at 9-1.

BYU returns to the Marriott Center to play their last of three in-state rivals. The Cougars host the Utah State Aggies on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 2 p.m. MST. The game will air live on BYUtv.

BYU has three players scoring in double figures, led by Jennifer Hamson who is scoring 18.0 points per game and has scored in double digits in all but one game played. Lexi Eaton follows with 16.9 points per game and Kim Beeston contributes 11.6 points.

As a team, the Cougar women are averaging 73.3 points per game and holding opponents to 66 points. BYU has recorded more blocks than opponents in all games and has dished out more assists in nine of the 10 games played to date. They have also recorded more rebounds in seven of their contests.

In the coaches’ preseason poll, BYU was picked to finish fourth in the WCC 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 Hamson, 18.0 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #5 Hamson, 10.2 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #4 Beeston, 4.2 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #4 Beeston, 1.5 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #5 Hamson, 4.2 bpg

ABOUT UTAH STATE
The Aggies are 5-3 on the season and have played their last three games on the road. They are at UC Santa Barbara before traveling to Provo for Saturday’s matchup.

Three players are scoring in double digits for Utah State and as a team they are scoring 83.4 points per game and holding opponents to 71.5 points. The team returns six letterwinners including three starters.

Last year Utah State compiled an 18-14 record, finishing second in the Western Athletic Conference before competing in the Women’s Basketball Invitational (WBI).

The Aggies, who are entering their first season in the Mountain West Conference, were picked to finish sixth in the MWC Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll.

• Head coach: Jerry Finkbiener (Southern Nazarene, ‘80) enters his 2nd season
• Team’s leading scorer: #3 Jennifer Schlott, 22.6 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #2 Elise Nelson, 7.0 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #3 J. Schlott, 6.4 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #2 E. Nelson, 2.8 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #32 Cristal Turner, 1.5 bpg

Series History
BYU leads the series 31-3. When playing in Provo, the Aggies are 1-15.

Last Meeting
These two in-state foes played last season in Provo on Dec. 4, 2012. In that contest, Haley Steed recorded her first double-double of the season, scoring a season-high 22 points and tying a season high with 12 assists to lead the Cougars to an 81-77 victory. The Cougars rode a hot-shooting night from 3-point land to build a large lead in the second half and then held on for the win.

BYU outrebounded Utah State 40 to 28 but the Aggies recorded more steals, 15 to 7.

The Cougars shot 44 percent from the field compared with 48 percent for USU.

Up Next
BYU stays at home to start conference games, playing its first four WCC games in the Marriott Center. The Cougars will first take on Loyola Marymount on Saturday, Dec. 28, at 2 p.m. MST. They will then face Pepperdine two days later on Monday, Dec. 30, at 5 p.m. MST.

The following week BYU will play host to league newcomer Pacific on Thursday, Jan. 2, and then rival Saint Mary’s on Saturday, Jan. 4.