Final Box Score

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Behind Lexi Eaton’s 27 points, BYU women’s basketball scraped out a 58-56 win over Santa Clara on the road Saturday.

“They really pressured us,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “In the second half, we did a much better job. Morgan and Lexi are two of the best scorers I’ve ever had. When you have people like that, it makes winning a lot easier. We just have to get better balanced scoring.”

Eaton and Morgan Bailey both had double-doubles in the win. Eaton had 27 points and 13 rebounds, while Bailey scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Xojian Harry scored five points late in the game. She also grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists.

With 6:09 left in the second half, Eaton hit a long two to get BYU (17-5, 9-2 West Coast Conference) within one of Santa Clara (7-13, 2-9 WCC). She scored eight points in a row, including six points from the free throw line, to give the Cougars a 47-44 lead, their first since the opening minutes.

Santa Clara fought back, keeping it close, until Harry went on a 5-0 run by herself, including a trey that gave BYU a four-point lead with one minute remaining. Harry was 0 of 7 from the field until making the two baskets that gave the Cougars the 52-48 lead. BYU closed out the game making free throws down the stretch to hold on to the 58-56 win.

BYU got off to a slow start, letting Santa Clara go on an 8-0 run early in the first half. Bailey ended the run with a hook shot to make it 10-6 with 13:46 remaining in the half.

Eaton scored the next five points for the Cougars, including a jump shot at the top of the key with 8:53 left in the half to close the gap to 15-10. 

With 4:47 left, Makenzi Morrison stole the ball away and found Eaton for a breakaway layup to cut Santa Clara’s lead to four. Eaton then made two free throws to get within two, 19-17.

The Broncos extended their lead late in the half despite the Cougars’ first 3-pointer of the game from Eaton, adding to her 14 points in the first half. BYU shot 32 percent in the half, which led to a 30-23 deficit.

Bailey started out the second half aggressive, nailing a hook shot, but Santa Clara came out strong, pushing the lead. A jump shot by Eaton with 17:18 left in the game made the score 32-27.

All alone under the basket, Bailey made an easy layup, closing in on the Bronco’s 37-31 lead. Aggressive play by the Cougars gave more opportunities at the charity stripe, which helped close the gap. A left-handed layup by Bailey drew the foul. After completing the three-point play, it was a one possession game with BYU down 42-39 with 9:50 remaining.

The Cougars will return home next week to face Pepperdine on Thursday at 7 p.m. MST. The game will be broadcast live on BYU TV. Live stats will also be available on the BYU women’s basketball schedule page. 

Postgame Notes

Team

BYU finished the game with 20 points in the paint to 18 for SCU. The Cougars also got four fast break points, while the Broncos did not record any.

Both teams finished with 11 turnovers each.  BYU took advantage of SCU’s miscues getting eight points compared with six for the Broncos.

The Broncos had the edge for the Broncos in assists with nine. The Cougars had eight. They also got the advantage in blocks with four to BYU’s three.

BYU earned its first lead of the game on free throws from Lexi Eaton with 5:21 left in the second half.

The Cougars finished the game shooting 70.6 percent from the free-throw line going 24 of 34.

Player

Lexi Eaton

Eaton led all scorers at the break with 14. She also tied for the lead in rebounds with five. She finished the game with 27 points and 13 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. The points mark the ninth time she’s recorded 20-plus points in a game this year. Both the points and the rebounds were game highs.

Morgan Bailey

Bailey grabbed five rebounds in the first half to tie for game highs in that category. She also had six points.

With the final 19 points and 12 rebounds she collected her 11th double-double of the year and second straight.

Xojian Harry

Xojian Harry had two assists in the first 20 minutes of action, the most on the team. She finished the game with three for the team lead.

Harry also scored five points, all coming in the final minutes of the game. Her first field goal gave the Cougars a three-point lead with just 1:48 left in the contest.

Game Notes for game #22 at SCU

Game Notes for game #21 at USF

PROVO, Utah —BYU women’s basketball has compiled a 15-5, 7-2 record and is tied with Saint Mary’s for second place entering this week’s West Coast Conference standings.

The Cougar women go on the road to start the second half of the conference season. BYU travels to northern California to take on San Francisco (13-7, 4-5) on Thursday, Jan. 29, and Santa Clara (7-11, 2-7) on Saturday, Jan. 31.

About BYU
When playing on the road, the Cougars have compiled a 6-2 overall record, including going 3-1 in WCC action.

The combined 63 points from Lexi Eaton’s 32 and Morgan Bailey’s 31 points in the win over Pacific on Jan. 15 were the first in program history. No two players have ever scored 30-plus points each in the same game.

Lexi Eaton, a 5-foot-10 junior guard/forward combo, leads the Cougars in scoring, averaging 19.7 points per game. She ranks third in rebounds, pulling down 5.9 boards a contest. Morgan Bailey, a 6-foot-2 senior forward, is in second place in scoring, tallying 18.4 points while leading the way in rebounding, averaging 10.8 boards per game. The team’s assist leader is Kylie Maeda, who averages 4.5 assists a game.

After playing 20 games, BYU is averaging 68.7 points per game, while shooting 42.9 percent from the field, 69.4 percent at the free-throw line and 36.7 percent from 3-point land. In all but three games, (at LMU, vs. USF and at Gonzaga), BYU has dished out more assists than its opponents. Most recently, in the home game vs. SMC, both teams tied in the assists category with 11 each. The Cougars have recorded more rebounds in 11 contests to date, have a 12-1 mark when leading at the break and have scored at least 80 points in five games (most recent, a season-high 89 vs. Pacific).

The team has also had three players score in double figures in seven contests, (most recent vs. USD) and has had four players finish with double-digit points in two, (most recent vs. UNLV).

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78) 14th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #21 L. Eaton, 19.7 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #41 M. Bailey, 10.8 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #15 K. Maeda, 4.5 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #23 M. Morrison, 1.4 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #41, M. Bailey, .55 bpg

About SAN FRANCISCO
San Francisco has a 13-7, 4-5 record to date and is in fourth place in this week’s WCC standings. The Dons are coming off two road wins over Pepperdine and LMU and are on a four-game win streak.

All five of San Francisco’s starters return this year. Last season, the team went 12-19, 6-12, finishing in sixth place in the conference regular season. The Dons were picked to finish sixth in this year’s league race.

Three players are scoring in double figures for USF, led by Taylor Proctor who averages 15.8 points and a team-best 8.1 rebounds per game. Taj Winston and Zhane Dikes are the other two players putting up double digits in points with 10.4 each. San Francisco scores 67.4 points a game, grabs 39.5 rebounds, shoots 41.3 percent from the field and 73.8 percent from the free-throw line. When attempting shots from behind the arc, USF is shooting 28.5 percent.

• Head coach: Jennifer Azzi (Stanford, 1990) Fifth season
• Team’s leading scorer: #32 T. Proctor, 15.8 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #32 T. Proctor, 8.1 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #1 Z. Dikes, 2.5 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #2 T. Winston, 2.5 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #92 T. Winston, 1.1 bpg

Series History
BYU leads the series 8-1. When playing in San Francisco, the Cougars are 4-1.

Last Meeting
In the first game in this year’s WCC race, the two teams played in Provo on Jan. 3, where the Cougars picked up the three-point, 65-62 win. Morgan Bailey recorded a double-double to lead BYU with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Lexi Eaton also put up double digits in points with 18 with Ashley Garfield tying for team bests in rebounds with 12.

USF took a 35-33 two-point lead at the break. After the Cougars tied the game at 35-35 on a Bailey lay-in, both teams battled back-and-forth exchanging the lead. BYU was up 62-60 with less than two minutes left after a 3-pointer by USF. Kylie Maeda sealed the Cougar win with four-straight free throws in the closing seconds of the game.

About SANTA CLARA
The Broncos are 7-11, 2-7 on the year and will host San Diego on Thursday before playing the Cougars on their home court on Saturday afternoon. SCU is in fifth place in the WCC regular season race.

Santa Clara returns eight letterwinners, including three starters from last year’s squad that compiled a 10-20, 6-12 record and finished tied for seventh in the WCC regular season. This season, under first-year coach JR Payne, SCU was picked to finish in last place in the WCC regular season battle.

Nici Gilday, who is averaging 18.8 points per game, leads the Broncos. Teammate Maria Bertholdt nearly scores in double digits, averaging 9.4 points and a team-best 7.4 rebounds a contest. Santa Clara scores 66.3 points, grabs 43.0 rebounds while shooting 38.8 from the field, 28.7 from behind the arc and 70.3 percent at the free-throw line. 

• Head coach: JR Payne (St. Mary’s, 1999) First season
• Team’s leading scorer: #12 N. Gilday, 18.8 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #15 M. Bertholdt, 7.4 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #21 R. Avila, 3.4 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #12 N. Gilday, 1.6 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #44 M. Allen, 1.5 bpg

Series History
BYU leads the series 9-1. In Santa Clara, BYU has a 4-1 mark. Head coach Jeff Judkins has a perfect 9-0 mark vs. SCU.

Last Meeting
The first league game in this year’s WCC race was played in Provo on Jan. 1. In that contest, the Cougars recorded an 84-55 victory with three BYU players tallying double digits in points. Lexi Eaton led the way with a game-high 22 points. Xojian Harry came off the bench to score 12 points in 20 minutes of action. Makenzi Morrison was the third Cougar player to put up double-digit points with 10. Morgan Bailey pulled down a game-best 14 rebounds to go along with her eight points and a game-high seven assists.

BYU enjoyed a 15-point, 40-25 advantage at the break and extended its lead to 23, 68-45, with just over eight minutes left in the game. The Cougars finished the game with a 29-point lead. In the game, all available BYU players got some playing time on the court.

Up Next
After the road trip to northern California, the Cougar women return home to host Pepperdine and LMU on Feb. 5 and Feb. 7, respectively. The game vs. the Waves is scheduled to air live on BYUtv while the contest vs. LMU will be available on the internet on TheW.tv.