PROVO, Utah – Lexi Eaton scored a season-high 29 points to lead BYU to a 65-60 victory over Nevada Saturday night at the Marriott Center.

"I’m glad we got our first win," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "Sometimes that’s the hardest. I was really happy with our defense, especially the last four minutes of the game. Lexi came out and played the way Lexi can play. We need that from her. I’m excited to go to Hawaii and hopefully get better."

Eaton made a career-high six 3-pointers to go along with six rebounds and three steals. Morgan Bailey had a double-double, grabbing a career-high 17 rebounds and chipping in 12 points and three steals.

The first half was sloppy for both teams. BYU (1-2) and Nevada (1-2) had back-to-back turnovers, and when BYU committed its second turnover, Nevada was able to convert for the first field goal of the game. Eaton then charged to the basket for the Cougars’ first points.

After three 3-pointers in a row, two from Eaton and one from Ashley Garfield, BYU was up 11-5 with 15:15 left in the first half. But the barrage of threes did not stop there. The Cougars made eight 3-pointers in the first half, going 8 of 16. Eaton made five treys by herself before halftime.

A great hustle play by Xojian Harry to grab the offensive rebound and keep the ball after a missed free throw set herself up to knock down a shot from beyond-the-arc. In the following play, Eaton stole the ball and made a quick layup to put BYU up 25-14 with 8:45 left in the first half.

Both teams played physical, committing a total of 23 fouls in the first half. Nevada’s Emily Burns scored the team’s last five points of the half, including a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left. The Cougars ended the first 20 minutes on a 9-3 run, leading the Wolf Pack 41-33 at the half.

BYU started off the second half with a 6-0 run, including a trey from Makenzi Morrison. The Wolf Pack then gained some momentum after three turnovers by the Cougars. Another 3-pointer from Eaton pushed BYU’s lead back up to 50-39 with 15:21 left in the game. Eaton's layup ended BYU’s three-minute drought without a field goal, which made the score 54-46 with 10:00 left.

Nevada kept the game close. Ashlee Jones made a three and a transition bucket to score five in a row for the Wolf Pack and make the score 56-51 with 7:05 in the game. A jumper from Eaton pushed the lead, but Nevada answered back with a three and a layup with 3:43 left to make the score 58-56.

Free throws kept the Wolf Pack in the game. Nevada shot 19 of 30 from the charity stripe. Kelsey Kaelin made both of her free throws with 33 seconds left to get within three of BYU, 63-60. Eaton made key free throws down the stretch to keep the 65-60 lead and win the game.

The Cougars play their next game in the Tom Weston Invitational against Butler in Laie, Hawai’i, on Nov. 26. Live stats will be available on the BYU women’s basketball schedule page. 

Postgame Notes

Team

BYU hit 5 of 7 3-pointers to begin the game. It finished with 10 made from beyond-the-arc. The Cougars held the Wolf Pack to 19 percent 3-point shooting, hitting just 3 of 16.

Nevada led for the first 2:27 of the first half. The Cougars were in control for the remainder of the game.

BYU had 15 assists in the game compared to 12 for Nevada. Additionally, the Cougars had 20 bench points to the Wolf Pack’s six.

BYU hit 38 percent of its shots from the floor while holding Nevada to 33 percent.

Player

Lexi Eaton had double figure scoring within the first seven minutes of the game, hitting her third 3-pointer of the night. She finished the evening with 29 points (second-highest total of her career) and a career-high six made 3-pointers to go along with six boards.

Morgan Bailey had a double-double of 12 points and 17 rebounds. Her 17 boards set a new career high. This was the first double-double of the season for Bailey.

Kylie Maeda led the team in assists with four.                                                                                                                                                                  

With a 0-2 record, the BYU women’s basketball looks to get back into the winning column in its next home game. The Cougars host Nevada (1-1) Saturday at 7:30 p.m. MST. The game airs live on BYUtv and will be simulcast on BYU Radio.

GAME PROMOTIONS
BYU vs. NEVADA
* Football Ticket Special - Anyone who comes to the women’s game and shows their ticket from the Savannah State football game gets in FREE.
* Thanksgiving Pie Eating Contest

About BYU
BYU returns three starters and nine letterwinners from last year’s team that won a program-best 28 wins, finished second in the West Coast Conference, advanced to the championship game of the league tournament and made some noise in the NCAA tournament, making it to the Sweet 16 before losing to eventual champion UConn.

This year the Cougars were selected to finish second in the WCC regular season race behind league- favorite Gonzaga.

Morgan Bailey, a  6-foot-2 senior forward, has recorded back-to-back 20-plus point outings with 25 at SDSU and 22 vs. CSUN. She ranks second on the team in rebounds pulling down 5.0 per game and dishes the most assists with a total of seven to date.  Senior Ashley Garfield leads the way in the rebound category, averaging 7.5 a contest.

Starters Lexi Eaton and Kylie Maeda are tied in steals with a 1.5 average. Redshirt freshman Cassie Broadhead has come off the bench in both contests and leads the team in blocks averaging 2.0 per game.

After two games, the Cougars are shooting 40 percent from the field, 68 percent at the free-throw line, 38 percent from 3-point land and have recorded more assists than their opponents.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78) 14th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #41 M. Bailey, 23.5 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #3 A. Garfield, 7.5 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #41 M. Bailey, 4.0 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #21 L. Eaton and #15 K. Maeda, 1.5 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #20, Cassie Broadhead, 2.0 bpg

About Nevada
With two games under its belt, Nevada has compiled a 1-1 record recording a home win over UCSB and then falling at No. 14 Cal, 76-54.

The Wolf Pack returns three starters among their 10 letterwinners back. Last season, Nevada went 18-13, 12-6 on the year, finishing third in the Mountain West Conference. In this year’s preseason MWC poll, they were picked to finish fifth. Nevada is one of four MWC foes the Cougars will play this year. BYU is also slated to play CSU, UNLV and Utah State.

Terilyn Moe, a 5-foot-8 junior guard, is one of two players scoring in double figures for the Wolf Pack, averaging 20.5 points.  Mimi Mungedi, a 6-foot-8 senior center, is the other player in double-digit points with a 17.5 average. Both also top the leader board in the rebound category pulling down 8.5 each. Nevada is averaging 62.5 points per contest, is shooting 39 percent from the field, 11 percent from behind the arc and 68.9 percent at the free-throw line.

• Head coach: Jane Albright (Appalachian State,1977) 6th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #13 T. Moe,  20.5 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #13 T. Moe & #55 M. Mungedi, 8.5 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #13 T. Moe, 7.5 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #13 T. Moe, #21 N. Lesure & #24 E. Burns, 1.0 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #55 M. Mungedi, 2.5 bpg

Series History
BYU leads the series 7-1. Nevada has never won in the Marriott Center in the history of the series between the two schools.

Last Meeting
Last year, the Cougars and Wolf Pack battled in Reno where BYU recorded the eight-point, 69-61 win. Lexi Eaton led the way with a game-best 24 points, followed by 12 from Jennifer Hamson. Morgan Bailey tied for game highs in rebounds, pulling down 11 boards. The Cougars shot 36 percent from the field and 73 percent from the free throw line. BYU was up by two, 34-32 at the break and led by as many as 15 with 10 minutes left in the contest.

Nevada had two players put up double digits in points with  19 from Terilyn Moe. She also pulled down seven rebounds. Dania Sharp was the second player to record double figures in points with 12. Aja Johnson topped the list in the rebound category with 11. The Wolf Pack shot 38 percent from the field and 78 percent from the charity stripe.

Up Next
After the home game vs. Nevada, the Cougar team travels to the BYU-Hawaii campus in Laie to compete in the Tom Weston Invitational. BYU will play Butler on Nov. 26, BYU-H on Nov. 27 and No. 20 Oregon State Nov. 29.

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