Final Box Score

SAN DIEGO – Strong bench contribution was not enough to push BYU women’s basketball past San Diego on the road, as it fell 69-59 Saturday afternoon.

“We saw a lot of fight in some of our kids," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "I thought that Alohi, Cassie and Savannah played really well. I thought we could have won the game, but it hurt to not have Morgan for three-quarters of the game. We will bounce back from this and move forward."

Lexi Eaton led BYU in scoring with 24, including going 9 of 12 from the charity stripe. She also had six rebounds and five assists. In the first half, Morgan Bailey had six points and five rebounds in 10 minutes of action. Kylie Maeda had seven points and three assists for the game. Alohi Robins-Hardy led the bench scorers with a career-high eight points. The Cougars outscored the Toreros 18-15 in bench points in the game.

A 3-pointer from Maeda got the scoring started for BYU (19-8, 11-5 West Coast Conference) to take the early lead over San Diego (21-5, 12-4 WCC). Behind four points from Bailey, the Cougars went on an 8-0 run over six minutes to go up 13-5 with 12:34 left in the half.

With six and a half minutes remaining, Bailey went down with an ankle injury after battling for a rebound. She would not return for the rest of the game.

The Toreros went on a 6-0 run over four minutes to get within four points of the Cougars’ lead, 15-11. Eaton made a couple of free throws to extend the lead, but San Diego went on another 6-0 run to tie the game at 17-17 with 3:42 remaining before the intermission.

Micaelee Orton and Robins-Hardy made key buckets in the last few minutes of the half to get back up by five, but the Toreros came back to tie it at 22 apiece with 48 seconds left. The game would remain tied 22-22 going into the half.

Makenzi Morrison scored the first bucket of the second half, but San Diego would go on a 12-1 run to follow to get the largest lead of the game at this point, 34-25. BYU was held scoreless for four and a half minutes. Savannah Irwin broke the Cougars’ scoring drought with a jump shot off the glass with 13:58 left. BYU then went on a 5-0 run, which included three points from Eaton, to get within four points, 36-32.

After a 7-0 Torero run with 10:44 remaining, Irwin posted up for a bucket and a career high in points. San Diego would go on another run after that, this one a 7-2 run, to extend its lead to 52-38 with nine minutes left in the game.

The two teams started trading buckets, but BYU was not able to get a defensive stop to spark a run. Eaton nailed a 3-pointer with 5:45 left to get the Toreros’ lead to single digits, but they continued to hold the Cougars at a distance.

Another trey, this time from Robins-Hardy, cut the lead to nine again, but San Diego got back up 65-54 with 1:47 remaining. The Toreros would score four more points to get the 69-59 victory.

BYU will return home next week with its last two regular-season games. The Cougars will play Portland on Thursday at 7 p.m. MST in the Marriott Center. The game will be broadcast live on BYUtv and BYU Radio - Sirius XM 143. Live stats will also be available on the BYU women's basketball game schedule page.

Postgame Notes

Team

BYU is averaging 2.1 blocks per game. In the first half at San Diego, they had six and finished the contest with nine, the most of the year.

The Cougars had 18 rebounds in the first half compared with 24 for the Toreros. BYU was outrebounded by the Toreros 49 to 29.

For the game, BYU dished out 12 assists to USD’s 16, making it just the fourth time of the year that an opponent has tallied more assists.

With the 10-point, 59-69 loss at San Diego, the Cougars dropped their third-straight game for the first time this year.

The Cougars got 18 points from their bench, compared with 12 points for the Toreros bench.

Player

Lexi Eaton

Eaton had four points, three rebounds and two assists in the first half of action. She finished with a team-best 24 points for her 25th game scoring in double digits and the 14th with 20-plus points. Eaton pulled down a team-high six rebounds and dished out a team-best five assists.

Kylie Maeda

Maeda recorded a career high in blocks with two. Maeda also scored seven points, grabbed two rebounds and dished out three assists.

Makenzi Morrison

Morrison had two points and two blocks in the first 20 minutes of action. She finished the game with four points and a career- and team-high three blocks.

Alohi Robins-Hardy

Robins-Hardy picked up a career high in points with eight, including going 2 of 4 from 3-point range.

Savannah Irwin

Irwin recorded a career high in points with four coming off the bench while playing six minutes.

Amanda Wayment

Wayment tied her career high in points with four while playing four minutes off the bench.

Notes for game #27 at San Diego

PROVO, Utah —With a Thursday bye in West Coast Conference action, BYU women’s basketball (19-7, 11-4) takes its last road trip in regular season league competition.

The Cougar women head to southern California to take on San Diego (20-5, 11-4) on Sat., Feb. 21 in a 2 p.m. PST tip. The Toreros, Cougars and Pacific Tigers are all tied for third place in the league standings. The game can be heard live on BYU Radio and will have a video stream on TheW.tv.

About BYU
Lexi Eaton, a 5-foot-10 junior guard/forward combo, leads the Cougars in scoring, averaging 21.1 points per game. She ranks third in rebounds, pulling down 6.5 boards a contest. Morgan Bailey, a 6-foot-2 senior forward, is in second place in scoring, tallying 18.5 points while leading the way in rebounding, averaging 10.9 boards per game. Bailey became BYU’s 26th player to eclipse 1,000 points in the USF game in San Francisco. The team’s assist leader is Kylie Maeda, who averages 4.5 assists a game.

BYU is averaging 69.3 points per game, while shooting 43.4 percent from the field, 70.1 percent at the free-throw line and 36.0 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. In the home game vs. SMC, both teams tied in the assists category with 11 each. The Cougars have recorded more rebounds in 14 contests to date, have a 15-2 mark when leading at the break and have scored at least 80 points in six games

The team has had four players score in double figures in four contests, (most recent at Pacific) and has had three players finish with double-digit points in nine games (most recent at SMC).

BYU head coach Jeff Judkins recorded his 300th win with the 77-58 home victory over Pepperdine on Feb. 5, 2015.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78) 14th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #21 L. Eaton, 21.1 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #41 M. Bailey, 10.9 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #15 K. Maeda, 4.5 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #23 M. Morrison, 1.5 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #41, M. Bailey, .54 bpg

About SAN DIEGO
San Diego has a 20-5, 11-4 record and is tied with BYU and Pacific for third place in the WCC standings. The Toreros are 10-2 when playing at home and 5-1 in WCC games.

Three players are scoring in double digits for USD, led by Malina Hood who is averaging 15.5 points and 3.0 rebounds a contest. Sophia Ederaine follows, with 11.9 points and a team-best 9.8 boards per game. Maya Hood rounds out the double figure scoring, contributing 11.0 points and 6.8 rebounds a contest.

San Diego is averaging 67.4 points, recording 43.2 rebounds per game, shooting 39.6 percent from the field and 69.4 percent from the free-throw line. From 3-point range, USD is shooting 43.2 percent.

• Head coach: Cindy Fisher (Arizona State, 1988) Ninth Year
• Team’s leading scorer: #02 Malina Hood, 15.5 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #12 S. Ederaine, 9.8 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #32 C. Woodward, 2.6 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #22 Maya Hood, 1.9 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #12 S. Ederaine, 4.3 bpg

Series History
BYU leads the series 8-1. When playing in San Diego, the Cougars are 1-2.

Last Meeting
A key 3-pointer in the closing minutes by Xojian Harry along with a career-high 15 points allowed BYU women’s basketball to hold on against San Diego, 54-50, in the first meeting between the two league foes on Jan. 24 in Provo.

Lexi Eaton led all scorers with 16 points followed by Harry’s 15 points. Morgan Bailey contributed 13 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two blocks.

The Cougars held a nine-point advantage over the Toreros to start the second half. BYU suffered a scoring drought for nearly six minutes starting at the 16:00 mark of the second half. The drought allowed the Toreros to get within one point, 37-36.

Bailey ended the drought with 10:41 left when she found Eaton cutting down the lane for a lay-up that put the Cougars back up three, 39-36.

BYU went up 50-45 with just over a minute left after Makenzi Morrison hit two critical free throws. Harry iced the game with four made free throws in the final minute as BYU held on for the 54-50 victory.

Up Next
The Cougar women play their final two regular season WCC games at home next week. BYU hosts Portland, Thurs., Feb. 26 and league-leading Gonzaga on Sat., Feb. 28. Both games can be seen live on BYUtv.