SAN DIEGO – BYU women’s basketball fell 60-45 to San Diego Saturday afternoon at Jenny Craig Pavilion.

“San Diego's pressure really hurt us,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "You can't turn over the ball as much as we did and expect to win. We didn't do a good job at getting the ball where we needed it to have an opportunity to score. We need to learn from our mistakes and get right back in the league race."

Lexi Eaton led the Cougars with 16 points along with a team-high three steals, while Jennifer Hamson tied a career-high 17 boards to go with five blocks. Kim Beeston ended the game with 12 points from 3 of 6 3-point shooting.

BYU (14-4, 4-3) and San Diego (16-2, 5-2) both ended the game shooting around 34 percent. The Cougars finished with a season-high 28 turnovers compared to just 13 for the Toreros.

Eaton went 4 for 4 from the charity stripe to give the Cougars their first points of the game.

Both teams played aggressive defense to start the first half. The Toreros went just 1 of 15 from the field while San Diego forced seven Cougar turnovers in the first eight minutes of play as BYU took an 11-4 lead.

The Toreros came back to tie the game at 16-all with 6:26 left to play in the first half, but two quick buckets from Eaton put the Cougar advantage back up to five at 21-16.

The first 20 minutes closed out with back-and-forth buckets as BYU took a 28-26 lead at the break.

San Diego took nearly twice as many shots as the Cougars in the first half, 31-18. The Toreros only hit 32 percent of those shots compared to BYU’s 50 percent. The Cougars led the turnover margin at the break 13-5, but had a 20-12 rebounding advantage.

Beeston started the second half with a 3-pointer to extend BYU’s lead to five at 31-28. Shortly after San Diego hit a 3-pointer and had a stolen inbounds pass for a bucket to take their first lead since 4-2 at 35-33.

Another quick bucket after a Cougar turnover capped off an 18-2 Torero run to give San Diego a double-digit lead at 46-35, forcing a BYU timeout.

The two teams traded buckets before the Toreros pulled away with a 60-45 win.

BYU returns home to the Marriott Center next week as they take on San Francisco on Thursday, Jan. 23, at 7 p.m. MST. Links to live stats and video streaming can be found on the BYU women’s basketball schedule page. 

Postgame Notes

Team

With the eight blocks the Cougars had against San Diego, it marked the 15th time this year they picked up more blocks than their opponents. The Toreros finished with five.

BYU pulled down 37 rebounds compared with 32 for San Diego making it the 13^th time this season the Cougars have grabbed more boards than their opponents.

The team scored 45 total points in the road loss to the Toreros making it the second fewest points scored in a game this season.

Player

At the end of the first half of action Lexi Eaton led the way for the Cougars with 11 points while shooting 100 percent from the free throw line. She finished the game with a team-best 16, marking the 13th time this year that she’s put up double digits in points.

Jennifer Hamson pulled down nine rebounds in the first 20 minutes of action and ended the game with a game-high 17 boards, which tied her career high in that category. She also had game highs in blocks with five.

Kim Beeston scored a total of 12 points marking the 12th time of the season she’s finished in double figures in points.

PROVO, Utah—With a 14-3, 4-2 WCC record, the BYU women’s basketball team enters this week’s league action tied for second place with San Diego and Saint Mary’s with identical 4-2 marks.

The Cougar women continue West Coast Conference action this week with one road game. BYU travels to San Diego to battle the Toreros (15-2, 4-2 WCC) Saturday at 2 p.m. PST at Jenny Craig Pavilion. The game action can be heard live on BYU Radio an online at TheW.tv

About BYU
Senior center Jennifer Hamson is one of three Cougar players who are putting up double digits in scoring, averaging 18.5 points per game. She has scored in double figures in all but two games. Sophomore guard Lexi Eaton is averaging 15.4 points per game with teammate Kim Beeston rounding out the double-digit output, contributing 11.8 points per contest.

As a team, BYU is averaging 71.8 points per game and is holding opponents to 66.7 points. The Cougars have recorded more blocks than opponents in all but one game (at Gonzaga) and have dished out more assists in 14 of the 17 games played to date. They have also recorded more rebounds in 12 contests.

BYU was picked to finish fourth in the WCC regular-season race behind San Diego, Saint Mary’s and league-favorite Gonzaga. 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, 18.5 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #5 Hamson, 9.8 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #4 Beeston, 3.6 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #4 Beeston, 1.4 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #5 Hamson, 3.7 bpg

About San Diego
San Diego has compiled a 15-2, 4-2 WCC record,  suffering its first losses of the season at Portland and at Gonzaga.

The Toreros were ranked No. 23 nationally last week, but dropped out of the top 25 after the two road defeats.

San Diego has a very balanced team with four players scoring in double figures. Amy Kame tops the leaderboard with 15.1 points per game followed by 12.3 points form Malina Hood and 11.8 from Felicia Wijenberg. Katelyn McDaniel rounds out the double-digit scoring contributing 10.3 points while leading in rebounds pulling down 8.1 per contest.

San Diego returns 12 letterwinners including two starters from last season’s squad that went 22-10, finished second in the WCC and advanced to the second round of the postseason WNIT.

• Head coach: Cindy Fisher (Arizona State, 1988) 9th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #10 Kame, 15.1 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #11 McDaniel, 8.1 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #10 Kame, 3.8 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #10 Kame, 1.9 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #12 Ederaine, 2.5 bpg

Series History
BYU leads the series 6-0. When playing in San Diego, the Cougars are 2-0.

Last Meeting
During last year’s WCC race, BYU swept the series over San Diego.

In the first matchup between the Cougars and the Toreros, it was the Cougars who picked up the 57-54 overtime win in San Diego on Jan. 10.

In the second meeting played in Provo on Feb. 9, BYU recorded the 53-48 victory.

Up Next
After the road game at San Diego, BYU women’s basketball returns to Provo, hosting San Francisco and Santa Clara on Jan. 23 and 25, respectively. Both games will be seen live on BYUtv.

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