PROVO, Utah – Jennifer Hamson's 18 second-half points led the BYU women’s basketball team to a 62-52 upset over No. 20/15 Gonzaga at the Marriott Center on Saturday.

"Great game tonight," BYU women's basketball coach Jeff Judkins said. "I’m really proud of our team and I thought they played tough tonight like they needed to win a game like this. I thought defensively it was one of our best efforts to really hold this team to 52 points. I think it really shows that these ladies can defend when they want to."

Highlights and Interviews

Hamson finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks, while Lexi Eaton added a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds to go along with three assists.

Bailey made the first points of the game after connecting from beyond the arc for the 3-0 start. Five minutes into the half, Eaton ended Gonzaga’s (23-4, 13-2 WCC) 10-0 run at the charity stripe and got a steal to lay it up at the other end. With 12:14 remaining in the half, BYU (21-5, 11-4 WCC) went on a 6-0 run with two buckets from Bailey and a pair of free throws from Eaton to cut the deficit 17-13.

After the Bulldogs extended their lead to 10, The Cougars went on an 11-3 run with a Beeston 3-pointer, a Hamson layup and a drive to the rim by Eaton. Stephanie Rovetti’s free throws cut the deficit to two, 29-27, with under three minutes left as part of the run. The Bulldogs led 33-27 at the break with Eaton leading all players with 10 points.

Both teams went without a point for the first 3:20 of the second half until Bailey’s layup cut BYU’s deficit 33-29. Hamson’s feed to Bailey in the post brought BYU within two with Hamson’s free throws tying it at 36 a piece at the 14:17 mark. Gonzaga retook a six-point lead until Hamson went on a solo 6-0 run, converting on two three-point plays to tie it 44-44.

With less than eight minutes remaining, Hamson’s free throws gave BYU a 46-44 lead, its first since starting 3-0. Bailey’s jumper extended the Cougars’ lead 50-45 and capped the 12-1 run. After the Bulldogs cut BYU’s lead to two, Beeston connected on a 3-pointer to take back the 55-50 lead with 4:06 left. Hamson’s shot off the glass and free throws pushed the lead to 12 to end the game on an 8-2 run.

BYU held Gonzaga to a 15.4 shooting percentage in the second half to give up only 19 points. The Cougars also outscored them in the paint 26-16. With the win, BYU snapped Gonzaga’s 13-game winning streak.

"It was a great atmosphere tonight," Judkins said. "This was one of the first games in a long time that felt like the crowd really helped us." 

The Cougars will hit the road to take on Pepperdine on Thursday at 7 p.m. PST.

Postgame Notes

Team
Morgan Bailey and Lexi Eaton were the only Cougars to score in the first half until Kylie Maeda made a free throw with 7:22 left before the break.

BYU ended the game shooting 40.5 percent from the floor while holding Gonzaga to 25.4 percent shooting.

The Bulldogs outrebounded the Cougars 47-36. They also had 19 second-chance points compared to just four for BYU.

The Cougars took their first lead since the 3-0 mark from a pair of Hamson free throws with 7:59 left in the game to make the score 46-44.

This was the first BYU win over a ranked opponent since the 2011-12 season when the Cougars beat No. 18/19 Gonzaga in Provo, 70-40, on Feb. 9, 2012.

Player
Lexi Eaton led all scorers at the break with 10 points. She finished the game with 15 points, including 7 for 8 free throw shooting, along with a game-high 10 rebounds. It was Eaton’s second double-double of the season.

Morgan Bailey contributed 14 points for the Cougars along with four boards.

Jennifer Hamson had just two points at halftime, but came back to finish the game with a team-high 20 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks.

Kim Beeston had a team-high four assists to go with eight points.

After a decisive 67-43 victory over Portland Thursday night, BYU women’s basketball (20-5, 10-4) continues its West Coast Conference schedule at home. Saturday at 2 p.m. MST, the Cougars host No. 15 Gonzaga (23-3, 13-1). The Bulldogs are in first place in the league standings.

Game Promotion vs. Gonzaga
• Pack the House Day
• Two for One – Buy one regular-season ticket for $5 and get the second ticket free

About BYU
With the win over Portland, BYU head coach Jeff Judkins picked up his 20^th win of the year, making it the eighth 20-plus win season and the fourth straight in his 13-year tenure with the women’s program. Senior center Jennifer Hamson leads BYU in points, rebounds and blocked shots with 18.2 points and 11.2 rebounds per game while averaging 4.2 blocks. Hamson leads the nation in blocked shots, ranks 12th in double-doubles, 16th in rebounds per game and 21^st in field goal percentage.

Three other Cougar players are also recording double figures in points, with Lexi Eaton putting up 17.0, followed by 11.0 points from Kim Beeston. Junior forward Morgan Bailey rounds out the scoring output, contributing 10.0 points. She is in second place in rebounds, pulling down 7.3 per contest.

As a team, the Cougar women are averaging 71.7 points per game and are holding opponents to 64.2 points. BYU, who ranks fourth in the country in blocked shots per game, has recorded more blocks than opponents in 22 games and has dished out more assists in 19 of the 25 games played to date. The team has also recorded more rebounds than opponents in 19 contests.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78) 13th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #5 Hamson, 18.2 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #5 Hamson, 11.2 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #4 Beeston, 3.6 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #4 Beeston, 1.2 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #5 Hamson, 4.2 bpg

About Gonzaga
With a 23-3, 13-1 record, the Gonzaga Bulldogs, who are ranked 15th in the latest USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll, are in first place in the WCC standings this week.  They are coming off a 66-48 win at San Diego.

Haiden Palmer is one of three players scoring in double digits for Gonzaga averaging 15.8 points per game. She’s followed by Sunny Greinacher, who contributes 11.3 points, with Lindsay Sherbret chipping in 10.5 points per contest. The Bulldogs are averaging 76.5 points and are pulling down 42.5 rebounds per game.

• Head coach: Kelly Graves (University of New Mexico, 1988) 13th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #3 Palmer, 15.8 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #14 Greinacher, 5.5 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #34 Redmond, 3.8 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #3 Palmer, 3.1 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #44 Cheslek, 1.3 bpg

Series History
Gonzaga leads the series 8-5. When playing in Provo, the Bulldogs have a 2-2 record. In last year’s game in Provo, Gonzaga picked up the 66-55 victory on Feb. 23, 2013.

Last Meeting
BYU dropped its second conference game of the season in Spokane 68-42 on Jan. 9. The 42 points scored in that game were the lowest scored this season. The Cougars led at 2-0, but the Bulldogs took the lead after that and never looked back.

Lexi Eaton was the only Cougar to score in double figures, getting 18 points to go along with five boards. Ashley Garfield came off of the bench to grab team bests in rebounds (8) and steals (2). For the first time of the season, Jennifer Hamson fouled out of the game after playing just 13 minutes. 

BYU was only down by 11, 32-21 at halftime but could not cut into the Bulldog lead in the second half of action.

Up Next
The Cougar women will make their final road trip in league action, heading to southern California. BYU is at Pepperdine on Feb. 20 and at LMU on Feb. 22. 

The team then returns to close out the WCC season hosting San Diego on Saturday, Mar. 1 at 1 p.m. MST.