USU Final Box Score

PROVO, Utah – Led by 28 points from Lexi Eaton Rydalch and a double-double from Kalani Purcell, BYU women’s basketball defeated Utah State 81-69 in the Marriott Center, Tuesday afternoon.

“The first half was as good as we've played in a long time," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "I think what Lexi did in the first half was crucial. It was a great effort in the second half. Kalani had 21 rebounds, which is the second-most rebounds of any player I've coached here. I thought some girls came in and did some nice things for us."

Both teams were almost even in shooting percentage for the game, with BYU (2-2) shooting 41.6 percent and Utah State (2-2) shooting 41.7 percent. The teams were even in the paint, both scoring 32 points. The Cougars capitalized on turnovers, scoring 27 points off of the Aggies’ miscues in the game.

Rydalch led all scorers with 28 points, including four treys. She also had five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Purcell had a double-double in the win with BYU career highs in rebounds with 21, in points with 14 points, in assists with six and in steals with three. Kylie Maeda led all players with seven assists to go with her seven points. Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher had 10 points and three rebounds in the game.

Micaelee Orton got the scoring started in the first period with a quick two points for the Cougars. A steal by Rydalch set up Purcell for the easy layup, putting BYU up 7-3 with 8:09 remaining in the period. Utah State answered back with a 7-0 run to take back the lead until Maeda drilled a 3-pointer to tie it up at 10-10.

With 1:53 on the clock, Cassie Broadhead got the layup and the foul for three points to extend the lead to 23-16.  The Cougars finished the period on a 9-2 run to go up 27-18.

Rydalch scored 13 points in the second period to extend BYU’s lead. After hitting back-to-back 3-pointers, the Cougars led 44-38 with 3:18 until the break. Maeda hit a floater at the buzzer, putting BYU up 50-34 heading into the locker room.

The Aggies started the third period strong, going on a 7-0 run to close the gap. A layup by Pulsipher at the 5:36 mark stopped the run, making it 57-41.

The Cougars responded with a run of their own, scoring nine unanswered points to end the period. Four of those points came within seconds of each other. Amanda Wayment grabbed a board and put it back up for two. Then, Purcell stole the inbound pass and dished it to Broadhead who another quick two, extending the lead to 67-46 with 2:04 left in the third period.

The fourth period was sluggish for the Cougars offensively, scoring just 10 points. Despite Utah State’s 20-point outburst, BYU was able to hold on to the 81-69 win. Wayment sealed the win with a layup at the final buzzer.

The Cougars will hit the road this week to participate in the Radisson Chatsworth Thanksgiving Classic in California. Their first game will be against Georgia on Friday, Nov. 27 at 5 p.m. PST. The game will be broadcast live on BYU Radio – Sirius XM 143. Live stats will also be available on the BYU women’s basketball schedule page.

Postgame notes

Team

BYU went in to the half with a 16-point lead up 50-34, leading Utah State in assists 17 to 9.  The Cougars finished the game with 24 assists to the Aggies 11.

The Cougars shot 38.5 percent from behind the arc to the Aggies 20.0 percent in the first half. For the game, BYU shot  26.3 percent from the 3-point line and the Aggies finished the game shooting 20.0 percent.

BYU had eight steals at the break, while the Aggies recorded six. The Cougars ended the contest with 13 steals, five more than the Aggies eight.

Against the Aggies, the Cougars scored a season-high 81 points, 46 rebounds and 24 assists. BYU lead for 36 of the 40 minutes of the game.

Player

Lexi Eaton Rydalch

Lexi Eaton Rydalch is now fifth in all-time scoring at BYU with 1,828 points behind Erin Thorn with 2,061. She recorded seven points, two rebounds, two assists and three steals in the first period alone, shooting 3 for 4 from the field. Rydalch finished the first half with 20 points.

For the game, she finished with 28 points, just one-point shy of her season-high 29. She added five rebounds, three assists, and three steals.

Kalani Purcell

Through the first 20 minutes of play, Kalani Purcell had a game-high seven rebounds along with eight points. She finished the game recording her first career double-double as a Cougar, with career-highs in scoring (14), rebounding, (21), assists (6) and steals (3).

Kylie Maeda

Kylie Maeda had a game-high five assists in the first half. She also added seven points and one steal through the first 20 minutes.

Maeda scored a season high seven points through the total 40 minutes of play. She finished the game with seven assists, along with two steals.

Amanda Wayment

Amanda Wayment grabbed her career-high rebounds with nine for the game. She also scored a career-high six points.

Micaelee Orton

For the game, Micaelee Orton tied her season-high six points and brought down three rebounds. She dished out a career-high three assists through 40 minutes of play.

BYU Game Notes 

USU Game Notes

PROVO, Utah—After going 0-2 on its first road trip, BYU women’s basketball returns home for one game. The Cougars (1-2) host in-state rival Utah State (2-1) on Tuesday, Nov. 24 at 11 a.m. for Kid’s Day. Elementary school-age kids throughout Utah County will be in attendance at the game. The Cougars and Aggies contest airs live on BYUtv and on the internet at byutv.org.

ABOUT BYU
Three returning starters and nine letterwinners anchor this year’s team. Last year, the Cougars compiled a 23-10 record, won the West Coast Conference tournament and competed in the first round of the NCAA tournament. BYU was selected to finish second in this year’s WCC regular season race.

After three games, BYU has two players that are scoring in double figures. All-American senior guard Lexi Eaton Rydalch is averaging 21.0 points and junior Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher contributes 12.7 points per game. All-American Kalani Purcell, a junior college transfer, leads the way in the rebound category (10.3). She pulled down a season-best and game-high 15 boards in the loss at No. 24 Oklahoma last Thursday.

The Cougars are scoring 60.0 points per game, shooting 37 percent from the field, 74 percent from the free throw line and 42 percent from 3-point range.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78) 15th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #21 L. Eaton Rydalch, 21.0 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #32 K. Purcell, 10.3 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #3 K. Maeda, 3.7 apg
• Team’s steals leader: ##23 M. Morrison Pulsipher, 2.3 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #34, M. Orton, .67 bpg

ABOUT UTAH STATE
Utah Sate comes to Provo with a 2-1 record with home wins over Westminster and Pacific. The Aggies return six letterwinners including one starter from a team that finished last season with an 8-23 overall record and a ninth place tie in the Mountain West Conference. Utah State is the second MWC team that BYU will play this year, having just played at CSU on Saturday.

Funda Nakkasoglu and Katie Toole are scoring in double digits for USU with Nakkasoglu contributing 24.0 points and Toole 12.7. Tijana Djukic leads the team in the rebound category pulling down 9.7 boards a game.

The Aggies are scoring 79.3 points per game while shooting 43 percent from the field, 75 percent from the free throw line and 31 percent from behind the arc.

• Head coach: Jerry Finkbeiner (Southwest Nazarene, ‘80) 4th year
• Team’s leading scorer: #03 F. Nakkasoglu, 24.0 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #22 T. Djukic, 9.7 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #03 Nakkasoglu & #25 R. Brewster, 4.3 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #25 Brewster & #01 V. Price, 2.3 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #22 Djukic, 1.7 bpg

Series History
BYU leads the series 33-3. In Provo, Utah State has 1-16 record.

Last Time
These two in-state foes played last season in Logan on Dec. 22, 2014, where the Cougars recorded the 62-58 win in double overtime. Lexi Eaton had a game-high 29 points, eight rebounds and four assists in the victory. Teammate Morgan Bailey tallied a double-double from 19 points and a game-best 22 rebounds. BYU shot 31 percent from the field and 65 percent from the free throw line and made three of 17 attempted 3-point buckets.

The Aggies also had two players finish with double digits in points with 19 from Funda Nakkasoglu and 15 from Franny Vaaulu. She recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds. USU shot 31 percent from the field, 56 percent from the charity stripe and 24 percent from behind the arc.

What’s Next
After the lone game at home, the Cougar women take to the road once again competing at the Radisson Chatsworth Thanksgiving Basketball Classic 2015, Nov. 27-28, hosted by CSUN. BYU will take on Georgia at 5 p.m. PT, Friday and either Penn State or hosts Cal State Northridge on Saturday, at 2 p.m.