PROVO, Utah – Senior forward Morgan Bailey and junior guard Lexi Eaton both scored over 20 points together for the first time this season as they powered BYU women’s basketball to a 64-53 win against Weber State Tuesday night at the Marriott Center.

“First of all it this was not one of our better games tonight,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “Part of it was we played three games in six days and Sunday–not being able to practice–we looked pretty sloppy tonight.”

Leading the scoring effort was Bailey’s career-high 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting and Eaton’s seventh-consecutive effort with 10 or more points as she finished with 25 on 8 of 19 from the field. The Cougars (6-3) are 5-1 when both Eaton and Bailey score in double-figures. Eaton added nine rebounds while Bailey and Ashley Garfield both collected eight.

“Weber State did a good job of switching everything,” Judkins added. “We haven’t had anybody do that this year.”

Both teams began the game with a scoring drought, committing a combined 22 turnovers in the first half. A left-side jumper by the Wildcats (4-5) scored the first bucket of the game at the 17:37 mark. BYU then scored the next basket at the 16:23 mark on a finish at the hoop by Bailey, assisted by Eaton.

The Cougars took their first lead on a layup by Bailey before the Wildcats took it back, 14-13. BYU then sparked a 10-0 run over nearly the next four minutes to take a 23-14 lead. Eaton had eight points during the run including the lone three of the half.

Eaton and Bailey scored BYU’s final 16 points of the half as the team held a 29-20 advantage. At the break, the two had 10 and 14 points, respectively, while Garfield and Eaton each pulled down five boards.

The second half started almost like the first with the first score coming at 17:47 as BYU came out with a 9-2 run to build the largest lead of the game at 38-22.

Weber State then strung together a run of its own, cutting the lead to 39-31 with a 10-1 spurt.

BYU countered with free throws by Eaton and Bailey to regain a 10-point cushion with 12:10 left in the game.

The Wildcats then narrowed a 14-point margin back down to 10 with 7:36 to play, 47-37.

With Eaton’s third 3-pointer of the game, the Cougars went up by 13. Weber State hung around, narrowing the lead to seven with 4:23 left, 53-46.

Bailey then converted down low with the foul to put BYU up 55-46. She then surpassed her previous career-high 26 on her next shot, another and-1 play that she converted on the free throw.

The Cougars maintained the lead to close out the game.

BYU travels up north to Salt Lake City for an in-state showdown with rival Utah Saturday at noon. The game will be available on the Pac-12 Network and on BYU Radio.

“I don’t think they’ll (the team) have any trouble getting ready for Utah,” Judkins said. “That’ll be a game they’ll be ready to go.”

Postgame Notes

Team

There were seven combined turnovers before the first media timeout and 13 within the first eight minutes of play. The Cougars ended with 21 turnovers compared to 18 for Weber State. 

A 10-0 run helped BYU retake the lead in the first half at 23-14. The Cougars never trailed for the rest of the game.

BYU held the Wildcats to 20 points in the first half, the lowest it's held an opponent to this season.

The Cougars finished the game shooting 41 percent compared to 32 for Weber State. BYU also led in free throws made, 21-6. 

The Wildcats led in bench points 20-4. Twenty-two offensive rebounds for Weber State led it to shoot 23 more shots than the Cougars at 72-49. 

Player

Morgan Bailey led all players at halftime with 14 points. She finished the game with a career-high 28 points to go along with eight rebounds and a team-high two blocks.

Lexi Eaton had double-digit points in the first half as well with 10. She finished the game with 25 points, including three made 3-pointers. Eaton also had a team-high nine rebounds.

Bailey and Eaton combined to score 53 of BYU's 64 points. 

Ashley Garfield collected eight boards and tied Eaton and Cassie Broadhead to lead the team in assists with three each.

PROVO, Utah — BYU women’s basketball (5-3) continues its nonconference portion of the 2014-15 campaign, playing its next three games in the state of Utah. After winnings five of their last six contests, including the last two, the Cougars host in-state foe Weber State (4-4), Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 7 .m. in the Marriott Center. The battle between the Cougars and Wildcats airs live on BYUtv and will be simulcast on BYU Radio.

About BYU
BYU returns three starters and nine letterwinners from last year’s team that compiled a 28-7, 14-4 record. The team finished second in the West Coast Conference and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. This year BYU was picked to finish second in the WCC regular-season race.

Lexi Eaton, a 5-foot-10 junior guard/forward combo leads the team in points with17.9 per game. She ranks third in rebounds pulling down 6.0 boards a contest. Morgan Bailey, a 6-foot-2 senior forward follows with 16.7 points and a team-best 9.3 rebounds per game. Rounding out the double-digit scoring is Makenzi Morrison who tallies 10.3 points and 2.0 boards per game.

The Cougars are scoring 68.0 points per game while shooting 43.6 percent from the field, 72.0 percent at the free-throw line and 35.1 percent from 3-point land. In all games, BYU has dished out more assists than its opponents.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78) 14th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #21 L. Eaton, 17.9 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #41 M. Bailey, 9.3 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #15 K. Maeda, 4.6 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #23 M. Morrison, 1.3 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #20, C. Broadhead, .50 bpg

About WEBER STATE
Weber State is 4-4 on the season after picking up wins over Montana Western, Bristol, Air Force and New Mexico State. When playing on the road, WSU has a 2-1 mark.

The Wildcats are playing with five returning letterwinners, including four starters from last year’s team that compiled a 7-22, 3-17 record.

Weber State has two players that are scoring in double figures, led by 12.3 points from Jalen Carpenter, a 6-foot-1 junior forward. She also pulls down 6.5 rebounds a game, the second most on the team. A 5-foot-10 junior guard, Regina Okoge, follows with 11.9 points and a team-high 7.3 rebounds per contest.

The Wildcats average 67.8 points per game, shoot 36.2 percent from the field, 27.9 percent from behind the arc and 64.6 percent at the free-throw line.

• Head coach: Bethann Ord (Maryland-Baltimore County, 1989) 4th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #03 J. Carpenter, 12.3 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #34 R. Okoge, 7.3 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #05 B. Averette, 2.6 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #34 R. Okoge, 4.0 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #03 J. Carpenter, 1.9 bpg

Series History
BYU leads the overall series 41-9. When playing in the Marriott Center Weber State is 1-20. The last time the Wildcats won in Provo was on Dec. 20, 1989 when they picked up the 93-87 victory.

Last Meeting
The two in-state foes played last year in Ogden where the Cougars squeaked out a 90-85 win on Dec. 10.  After being down by 24 points three minutes into the second half of action, the BYU women’s basketball team battled back to take a five-point, 90-85 road win going on a 14-0 run to close out the game. The Cougars outscored Weber State in the second half 52 to 29. At the break, BYU was down by 18, 56-38. BYU shot 57 percent from the field and 56 percent from 3-point range.

Lexi Eaton led the BYU effort with 25 points with a double-double from Jennifer Hamson that included 23 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Kim Beeston was the third Cougar in double digits with 18 points and five assist.

For Weber State, Jalen Carpenter led the way with 20 points and six rebounds. Desiree Ramos and Amanda Hughes tallied 12 points each, followed by 11 points from Regina Okoge. The Wildcats shot 38 percent from the field, 43 percent from 3-point range and 76 percent from the free-throw line.

Up Next
Following Tuesday night’s home game, BYU women’s basketball takes a short trip to Salt Lake City to battle in-state foe Utah on Saturday at noon. That game at the Huntsman Center will air live on BYU Radio and on the Pac-12 Network.

The Cougars finish the nonconference portion of their schedule on Monday, Dec. 22 when they travel to Logan to take on in-state rival Utah State, in a 7 p.m. tip.