SPOKANE, Wash. – BYU women’s basketball fell to Gonzaga 68-42 Thursday evening on the road at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

“We need to be more aggressive on offense and shoot more,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “Having Jennifer in foul trouble for most of the game hurt us in our defensive presence, and when that happens we need others to step up. We need to learn from this and get back to the fundamentals.” 

Sophomore Lexi Eaton was the only Cougar to score in double-digits, ending with 18 points to go with five boards. Ashley Garfield contributed a team-high eight rebounds while Kylie Maeda added three assists.

BYU (13-3, 3-2) finished the game hitting just 31 percent of its shots compared to 40 percent for the Bulldogs (13-3, 3-1). Gonzaga outrebounded the Cougars 43-32 and had more points in the paint, 36-18.

The Cougars put the first two points on the board from Jennifer Hamson and Kim Beeston free throws to give BYU’s its only lead of the game. Gonzaga countered with a 7-0 run to go up 7-2 at the first timeout.

Within the first two minutes of the game the leading scorer of each team (Hamson and Gonzaga’s Haiden Palmer) picked up a pair of fouls and were taken out of the game early on.

BYU trailed by as many as six points before Eaton hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to three at 16-13 in the first half. The Bulldogs then took their largest lead of the half with 10 seconds to go on a three-point play, making the score 32-21 at halftime.

The Cougars struggled in the first half to score from the charity stripe, hitting just 7 of 12 compared to a perfect 8 of 8 for Gonzaga. Turnovers were an issue for both teams in the first 20 minutes, combining for 21 turnovers (13 for BYU and 8 for Gonzaga).

The two squads traded points after the break with each team going on a separate 4-0 run to make the score 36-25 with 16:23 left to play. The Bulldogs then went on an 18-4 run to take a 50-29 advantage.

Hamson fouled out of the game with 8:48 left after scoring five points and grabbing two boards.

The Cougars finished hitting just 9 of 30 in the second half with Gonzaga taking the game 68-42.

BYU stays on the road to play the Portland Pilots on Saturday at the Chiles Center. The game begins at 2 p.m. PST and will be broadcast on BYU Radio. Links to live stats can be found on the BYU women’s basketball schedule page. 

Postgame Notes

Team

Against Gonzaga, the Cougars finished the game with 42 points, their lowest point total of the season.

BYU is now 3-2 in WCC action.

Player

Lexi Eaton picked up her 12th outing putting up double digits in points with 18. She also pulled down five rebounds and had one steal.

Junior Ashley Garfield came off the bench and grabbed a team-best eight rebounds. It marks the fourth time this season she’s led the team in that category. Garfield also picked up two steals for team highs.

Kylie Maeda led the team in assists with three.

For the first time on the season, senior center Jennifer Hamson fouled out of the game after playing just 13 minutes. In that time she recorded five points, two rebounds and two blocks.

Heading into the third week of West Coast Conference action, the Cougar women (13-2, 3-1) are in second place in the conference standings behind league leading San Diego.

The team takes its first conference road trip of the season this week.  On Thursday, BYU plays at Gonzaga (12-3, 2-1) in a 6 p.m. PST tip. The game with the Bulldogs will air live on BYU Radio.

About BYU
Three players are scoring in double figures for the Cougar women, led by Jennifer Hamson who is averaging 19.2 points per game and has scored in double digits in all but one game played. Lexi Eaton follows with 15.7 points per game and Kim Beeston contributes 12.1 points.

As a team, BYU is averaging 73.5 points per game and are holding opponents to 66.5 points. The Cougars have recorded more blocks than opponents in all games and have dished out more assists in 13 of the 15 games played to date. They have also recorded more rebounds in 10 contests to date.

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 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, 19.2 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #5 Hamson, 10.3 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #4 Beeston, 3.7 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #4 Beeston, 1.4 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #5 Hamson, 3.9 bpg

About Gonzaga
With a 12-3, 2-1 record, the Gonzaga Bulldogs are in a three-way tie for third place with San Francisco and Santa Clara in the WCC race. Gonzaga is coming off a 56-24 road win at Portland. Thursday’s matchup with the Cougars is the first home league contest for the Bulldogs.  

Haiden Palmer is one of three players scoring in double digits for Gonzaga averaging 15.7 points per game. She’s followed by Sunny Greinacher who contributes 11.3 points with Lindsay Sherbret chipping in 10.2 points per contest. The Bulldogs are averaging 74.5 points and are pulling down 42.3 rebounds per game.

Gonzaga returns 12 letterwinners including four starters from last year’s team that went 27-6, won the WCC regular season, the tournament and competed in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

• Head coach: Kelly Graves (University of New Mexico, 1988) 13th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #3 Palmer, 15.7 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #14 Greinacher, 5.6 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #34 Redmond, 4.6 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #3 Palmer, 3.3 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #44 Cheslek, 1.4 bpg

Series History
Gonzaga leads the series 7-5. In Spokane, BYU has a 2-4 record. The last time the Cougars won there was on Dec. 2, 2000, when they picked up a 74-57 victory.

Last Meeting
Last year the two conference foes played three times, including a semifinal matchup in the WCC tournament. In all three contests, Gonzaga picked up the victories.

In Spokane, the Bulldogs won 74-59 on Jan. 17. In Provo on Feb. 23, Gonzaga recorded the 66-55 victory. It was the only conference loss for the Cougars in the Marriott Center last season.

The third meeting between the two programs came on March 9 when they met in one of two semifinals at the 2013 WCC basketball championships in Las Vegas. In that game, Gonzaga took the 62-43 win.

Up Next for BYU
After Thursday’s road league game at Gonzaga, the Cougar women travel to Portland to take on the Pilots on Sat., Jan. 11 at 2 p.m. PST. The following week they continue conference action on the road playing at San Diego on Saturday, Jan. 18 before returning home to host San Francisco and Santa Clara on Jan. 23 and Jan. 25.