Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash. — Despite 19 points from Kylie Maeda, BYU women’s basketball fell to Gonzaga, 73-55, in its last conference game of the season, Saturday.

“We didn’t play our basketball today,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “You’ve got to give Gonzaga a lot of credit for it. We made some mistakes defensively that we haven’t made throughout the rest of the season. We need to step it up as a team. We will learn from this game, and go into the tournament with a lot of fire and confidence.”

Maeda finished her last regular season game with a career-high 19 points, three rebounds and two assists. She went 7 of 10 from the field, and 5 of 6 from behind the arc.

Kalani Purcell finished the game with a double-double, her 16th of the season. Purcell had 10 points, 13 rebounds and three assists. Lexi Eaton Rydalch tallied eight points, four rebounds and four assists in 35 minutes of play, and Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher also added nine points and two rebounds.

BYU (24-5, 16-2) shot 39.1 percent from the field for the game to Gonzaga’s (18-12, 10-8) 41.7 percent. The Bulldogs outrebounded the Cougars 37 to 31, and BYU dished out 10 assists, while Gonzaga had 13.

The first points of the game came at the 6:32 mark in the first period, on a free throw by Gonzaga’s Shaniqua Nilles. The Cougars took the 2-1 lead on the next possession as Rydalch found Purcell on the baseline for a layup. Proceeding to go on an 11-0 run, the Bulldogs took the 12-2 lead over BYU with under three minutes to go in the first.

Maeda sparked the Cougar offense, cutting the Gonzaga lead to six, 14-8, as she hit back-to-back 3-point field goals to close out the period.

Gonzaga began the second 10 minutes of action on a 5-0 run. Cassie Broadhead silenced the Bulldogs on a turn around jumper on the next possession to make the score, 19-10. Purcell brought the Cougars back within five, 19-14, as she hit a baseline jumper to give her four points for the game.

After two Gonzaga baskets, Maeda hit her third 3-pointer of the contest, cutting into the Bulldog lead. With eight seconds to go in the half, Jill Barta made a layup to give Gonzaga the 28-21 lead. Shortly before the buzzer sounded, Maeda hit another trey to cut the Bulldog lead to four, 28-24, going into halftime.

Maeda led all scorers with 14 points in the first half. She went 4 of 4 from behind the arc and 5 of 7 from the field.

The Cougars won the rebounding battle in the first half 20 to 18, and the Bulldogs dished out six assists to BYU’s five.

Purcell opened the second half with a long 18-footer to bring BYU within two, 28-26. On the next Cougar possession, Pulsipher hit her first field goal of the game to give BYU the 29-28 lead, the team’s first lead since the 5:50 mark of the first period.

Rydalch then scored four consecutive points, a fast break layup and two free throws, to give the Cougars the 33-30 lead midway through the third period. The Bulldogs retook the lead 34-33 on a jump shot by Zhane Templeton with 4:28 to go in the third period of play.

BYU retook the lead at the 3:37 mark as Micaelee Orton went 2 of 2 from the charity stripe to give the Cougars the 37-34 advantage. Teams then went back and forth trading baskets.

With 57 seconds to go, Amanda Wayment went 1 of 2 from the line to tie the score at 40-all. Maeda then made a running layup with just seconds to go in the period to give BYU the 42-40 advantage going into the fourth.

The Bulldogs started the fourth period on a 6-0 run to take the four-point lead, 46-42, with 7:47 to go. BYU then made four straight points as Wayment made a layup and Purcell then made a long jumper to cut Gonzaga’s lead to 50-48.

On the next play, Bulldog guard Emma Stach hit her second 3-point field goal of the game to extend the Gonzaga lead to five, 53-48.

Pulsipher, fouled on a three pointer, went 2 of 3 from the line to then cut the lead to three, 53-50. With under five minutes to play, Jill Barta sank a pair of free throws to push the Gonzaga lead back up to five, 55-50.

After two BYU turnovers, the Bulldogs increased the lead to seven, 57-50. With 2:03 to go, Stach extended Gonzaga’s lead to 11, 61-50. Maeda hit her fifth 3-pointer to keep the Bulldog lead at 11, 64-53. Gonzaga then finished the game on a 9-2 run.

BYU women's basketball now prepares for next week's 2016 West Coast Conference Women's Basketball Championships to be played at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Mar. 3-8. The Cougars come into the event as the defending WCC tournament champions and are this year's  No. 1 seed after winning their first outright WCC regular season crown.

Postgame Notes

Team

In the first half of action, BYU led the way in the rebound category with 20. Gonzaga had 18. For the game, the Bulldogs had the advantage, 37 to 31.

BYU shot 37.5 in the first 20 minutes of action and finished the game shooting 39.1 percent from the field and 68.4 percent at the free throw line.

For the game, the Cougars got 10 assists and three steals.

For the 10th time this season, BYU had two players score in double digits. Maeda (19) and Purcell (10).

Player

Kylie Maeda led all scorers with 14 points, 12 of which were from 3-point range through the first 20 minutes of play. The points are the most she’s scored in a half in her career. Maeda finished with a career-high 19 points to lead the Cougars. She went 5 of 6 from the 3-point line. Her five treys are a career-high.

Kalani Purcell pulled down a first-half high, 10 rebounds. She also had six points, two assists and one steal. Purcell concluded the contest with her 16th double-double of the season with a game-high 13 rebounds and 10 points.

Lexi Eaton Rydalch led the team in assists with four. She also tallied eight points and grabbed four rebounds.

Amanda Wayment came off the bench scoring five points and had a game-best two steals.

PROVO, Utah—With its first ouright West Coast Conference regular season title, No. 22 BYU women’s basketball (24-4, 16-1) has one more league game this week. With Thursday night’s road win at Portland, BYU has extended its winning streak to 16- straight, the longest streak in program history.

The Cougars finish the year in Spokane with a game against Gonzaga (17-12, 9-8) Saturday, Feb. 27 in a 2 p.m. PT tip. The Cougars and Bulldogs’ game can be heard live on BYU Radio and can also be viewed on the W.tv. 

BYU at a Glance
BYU breaks into the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll this week at No. 22 after being one spot out of the top 25 last week. The Cougars were last in the Coaches Poll in the 2013-14 season when they finished the year ranked 18th after getting votes heading into that year’s WCC tournament. That season BYU advanced to the Sweet 16 before losing to UConn, who went on to win the NCAA Championship.

Senior All-American guard Lexi Eaton Rydalch is one of three Cougar players putting up double figures in points with a team-best 24.7 points. She’s BYU’s second all-time leading scorer and the WCC’s all-time leading scorer. Rydalch ranks second on the team in rebounds, pulling down 5.8 boards a game. Junior Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher follows contributing 12.8 points to the Cougars’ offensive threat. All-American Kalani Purcell, a JC transfer from Hutchinson Community College and Hamilton, New Zealand, rounds out the scoring with her 11.6 points, and with a team-best 12.5 rebounds is averaging a double-double. Purcell tops the league in rebounds and in assists while Rydalch leads the way in scoring.

The Cougars are scoring 69.6 points and grabbing 38.2 rebounds while shooting 42.4 percent from the field, 69.0 percent from the free throw line and 37.1 percent from 3-point range. BYU is holding opponents to 60.8 points per game.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78) 15th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #21 L. Eaton Rydalch, 24.7 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #32 K. Purcell, 12.5 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #32 K. Purcell, 4.9 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #23 M. Pulsipher, 2.3 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #32, K. Purcell, .89 bpg

GONZAGA at a Glance
Gonzaga enters the final week of WCC regular season with a 17-12, 9-8 record. They have a 6-2 record at home in league play. The Bulldogs lost to San Diego, 58-57 Thursday night.

Jill Barta leads Gonzaga in scoring averaging 13.6 points per game. Shelby Cheslek tops the list in rebounds averaging 8.6 boards per game.  

The Bulldogs are averaging 64.8 points per game, grabbing 40.5 rebounds, while shooting 40.4 percent from the field, 31.7 percent from behind the arc and 69.6 percent from the free throw line. Gonzaga’s defense is holding opponents to 57.7 points a contest.

• Head coach: Lisa Fortier, Second season
• Team’s leading scorer: #13 J. Barta, 13.6 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #44 S. Cheslek, 8.6 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #05 G. Stirto , 2.8 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #13 J. Barta, 1.3 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #44 S. Cheslek, 2.0 bpg

Series History
Gonzaga leads the series 11-8. When playing in the McCarthey Athletic Center, the Cougars have a 2-6 mark. The last time that BYU won in Spokane was on Dec. 2, 2000, when they picked up a 74-57 victory.

In the first meeting between BYU and Gonzaga, the Cougars recorded the 58-54 win in Provo on Jan. 14. Lexi Eaton Rydalch led the way with a game-high 18 points to go along with two assist while going 3 of 4 from the free throw line. Kalani Purcell picked up a double-double from 17 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Kylie Maeda and Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher dished out team bests in assists with three while Amanda Wayment had a game high in steals with three.

Shelby Cheslek and Kiara Judron led the way for Gonzaga with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Kudron grabbed a team-best eight rebounds while Georgia Stirton dished out a game-high five assists.

Coming Up
BYU heads to Las Vegas for the 2016 WCC Women’s Basketball Championships, beginning Friday, Mar. 5. The Cougars are the defending champions and look to repeat the feat this year.  The winner of the conference championship receives an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.