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LAS VEGAS — Double-doubles from Lexi Eaton Rydalch and Kalani Purcell helped BYU women’s basketball defeat Pepperdine, 72-59, in the second round of the West Coast Conference tournament, Friday.

"These young ladies have been looking forward to the tournament," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "We've learned to play together and that's good. I thought Kalani had a great second half and she's a tough matchup of teams. I am really happy to see the team bounce back after the loss to Gonzaga."

Rydalch finished the game with a game-high 28 points and 12 rebounds to record her fifth double-double of the season. She also added a career-high five steals.

Purcell also recorded a double-double, her 17th of the year. She finished the contest with a career-high 19 points and 11 rebounds. She also recorded a game-high eight assists and one steal.

Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher and Amanda Wayment added eight points each for the Cougars. Pulsipher pulled down five rebounds and also had two assists, while Wayment had three rebounds.

Pepperdine (7-24) struck first on a layup by Yasmine Robinson-Bacote. On the next possession, Rydalch hit a deep 3-pointer in transition to give the Cougars (25-5) the early 3-2 lead.

At the 6:46 mark, Pulsipher drove to the hoop and got fouled. She hit the pair of free throws to extend BYU’s lead to three, 5-2.

The Waves then went on a 6-0 run to retake the lead, 8-5. On the next play, Kylie Maeda answered back with a 3-point field goal to tie the game at 8-all. With 4:16 to go in the first, Maeda found Purcell wide open on the block to score the layup to take the 10-8 lead. Teams went into the second period tied at 14.

Cassie Broadhead opened the period sinking a pair of free throws to give BYU the 16-14 advantage. At the 8:01 mark, Rydalch also went 2 of 2 from the charity stripe. The Cougars shot 9 of 10 from the line in the first half.

BYU continued its 8-0 run as Purcell banked in a jumper to take the 22-14 lead. The Cougars extended their lead to 12, 26-14, as Rydalch and Pulsipher both made baskets.

Paige Fecske scored the first point of the second period for the Waves at the free throw line with 2:39 to go in the half. Fecske’s free throw made the score 26-15. Rydalch extended the lead to 13, 30-17, with a minute to go, converting her second 3-pointer of the contest. Rydalch led all scorers with 14 at the break.

Both teams shot 31.0 percent from the field in the first half. BYU outrebounded Pepperdine 22 to 15, while both teams dished out eight assists in the first 20 minutes of action.

The Waves opened the second half with a 3-pointer by Allie Green to cut the BYU lead to seven, 30-23. On the next play, Rydalch hit her third 3-point field goal of the contest to regain the 10-point Cougar lead, 33-23.

Rydalch scored four more straight points to give BYU the 37-26 advantage. Pepperdine then pushed the ball up the court into the hands of Devin Stanback to convert the 3-point play.

Fecske cut the Cougar lead to eight, 39-31, on a layup at the 6:18 mark. Pulsipher answered the Pepperdine score with a trey, her first of the game, to take the 43-31 lead. Amanda Wayment then scored four quick points to extend the Cougar lead to 16, 49-33, forcing a Pepperdine timeout.

On the next possession, Pulsipher found Purcell on the baseline to continue fueling BYU’s 8-0 run. The Cougars scored four more straight points to give BYU the 20-point lead, 55-35, going into the final period.

BYU began the fourth period of play scoring seven straight points to increase the lead to 27, 62-35. The Waves then cut the Cougar lead back to 20, 62-42, scoring seven straight points of their own.

At the 4:34 mark, Rydalch converted her fourth 3-pointer to give her 28 for the game. The 3-point field goal gave BYU a 24-point advantage, 70-46. Stanback made a pair of free throws with 3:13 to go to cut the BYU lead to 18 points, 70-52. Maeda ended the Pepperdine run with a long jumper to make the score, 72-56.

The Cougars finished the contest shooting 41.3 percent from the field to the Waves’ 41.7. BYU grabbed 38 rebounds to Pepperdine’s 27, and the Cougars had 13 offensive rebounds to the Waves’ three. BYU dished out 16 assists, while Pepperdine had 13.

No. 1 seed BYU will continue WCC tournament play Monday, as they will take on No. 4 Santa Clara in the semifinals. Teams are set to tip off at 12 p.m. PST. The game will be broadcast on BYUtv and TheW.tv. It will be simulcast live on BYU Radio – Sirius XM 143. Links to live stats can be found on the BYU women's basketball schedule page.

Postgame Notes

Team

With the 72-59 win over Pepperdine, No. 1 seed BYU (25-5) advances to the semifinals of this year’s WCC tournament. It’s the fifth straight time since joining the league that the women’s team has advanced to the semifinals. They won the title in 2012 and in 2015.

In the second period, the Cougars went on a 12-0 run to take a 26-14 advantage. Pepperdine only scored six points in that period. At the break, BYU had a 10-point, 30-20 advantage. The Cougars had their largest lead over the Waves with 8:29 left in the fourth period by 27, 62-35.

BYU ended the first half with a 22-15 edge in the rebound category. The Cougars concluded the game with 38 rebounds to the Waves 27.

In the assists category, BYU finished the contest with three more assists than Pepperdine, 16 to 13.

BYU shot 41.3 percent from the field, 31.8 percent from behind the arc and 81.3 percent from the charity stripe in the win over the Waves.

Player

Lexi Eaton Rydalch led all scorers through the first half of play with 14 points, while grabbing five rebounds and going 4 of 4 from the free-throw line. She finished with her 29th double digit outing of the season with 28 total points, making it the 23rd time this year that she has scored 20-plus points. The points were game highs. Rydalch finished the game with her fourth double-double of the year with a game-best 12 rebounds. She also had the most steals in the contest with five, for new career highs in that category.

Kalani Purcell had the most rebounds in the first half with seven to go along with seven points and three assists. She picked up her 17th double-double of the year with a season-high 19 points and a 11 rebounds. Purcell nearly had a triple-double with a game-high eight assists.

Kylie Maeda dished out three assists in the first half, tying for team bests. She finished the game with four assists, seven points, two steals and one rebound.

Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher contribute eight points, five rebounds and two assists in the win.

Amanda Wayment came off the bench and tallied eight points and grabbed three rebounds.

BYU vs. Pepperdine Notes

PROVO, Utah— BYU women’s basketball (24-5, 16-2) enters the 2016 West Coast Conference Women’s Basketball Championships as the No. 1 seed after winning its first WCC regular season title. The Cougars are the defending tournament champions.

BYU will play in one of two quarterfinal games on Friday at noon PT. The Cougars will play No. 9 seed Pepperdine (6-23, 2-16).

No. 1 Seed BYU at a Glance
After leading the West Coast Conference in scoring, and becoming the all-time leading scorer in WCC women’s basketball history, Lexi Eaton Rydalch was named Player of the Year. Teammate Kalani Purcell was named WCC Newcomer of the Year with head coach Jeff Judkins picking up his first Coach of the Year award since joining the WCC.

BYU took three of the top four league awards, with San Diego’s Maya Hood being named the Defensive Player of the Year. The Cougars have won four straight player of the year honors.

Rydalch and Purcell were named to the 2015-16 All-WCC Women’s Basketball First Team with Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher being named to the Second Team. Kylie Maeda was an All-WCC Honorable Mention selection.

BYU broke into the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll last week at No. 22 after being one spot out of the top 25 the previous week. With the loss at Gonzaga, the team is two spots out of the top 25 in the poll released Tuesday. 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.

Three Cougar players are scoring in double figures with a team-best 24.1 points from senior All-American Lexi Eaton Rydalch. 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 5.7 boards a game. Junior Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher is second contributing 12.7 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 11.5 points, and with a team-best 12.5 rebounds, is averaging a double-double. Purcell tops the league in rebounds and assists while Rydalch leads the way in scoring.

The Cougars are scoring 69.1 points and grabbing 38.0 rebounds while shooting 42.3 percent from the field, 69.0 percent from the free-throw line and 36.9 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, 24.1 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #32 K. Purcell, 12.5 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #32 K. Purcell, 4.8 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #23 M. Pulsipher, 2.2 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #32, K. Purcell, .89 bpg

No. 9 seed PEPPERDINE at a Glance
Pepperdine enters the WCC tournament as the No. 9 seed with a 2-16 mark and a 6-23 overall record.

Erica Ogwumike leads the way in points and rebounds for the Waves with 18.4 points and 7.5 rebounds a game, respectively.

Pepperdine is averaging 63.2 points per game, grabbing 35.8 rebounds, while shooting 38.6 percent from the field, 32.8 percent from behind the arc and 71.4 percent from the free-throw line.

• Head coach: Ryan Weisenberg, Third season
• Team’s leading scorer: #13 E. Ogwumike, 18.4 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #13 E. Ogwumike, 7.5 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #11 P Fecske, 3.3 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #13 E. Ogwumike, 2.0 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #44 K. Brockway, .59 bpg

Series History
BYU leads the series with Pepperdine, 12-2.

The Cougars and Waves have had one previous meeting in the WCC tournament. They played in the quarterfinals of the 2013-14 championship. In that meeting, Pepperdine was the No. 10 seed and BYU was the No. 2 seed. The Cougars won that contest 77-51.

BYU swept this season’s series over Pepperdine, winning in Provo 69-64 on Jan. 23 and 77-66 on Jan. 30 in Malibu.

In the game at Pepperdine, BYU was led by a game-high 37 points from Rydalch and a double-double from Purcell, who tallied 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes. The Cougars shot 47.3 percent from the field, 27.3 from 3-point range and 75.9 percent from the free throw line. BYU outrebounded the Waves 37-35, had 11 assists to their 10 and had the advantage in steals 11 to 6.

In Provo, the Cougars recorded the 69-64 victory led by 21 points from Rydalch, 16 from Purcell and 13 from Pulsipher. Purcell had a career-high 24 rebounds, collecting a double-double in the game. The 24 rebounds are the second-most in BYU history in a single game. She nearly had a triple-double with a game-best eight assists and went 6 of 6 from the free-throw line. BYU shot 36.2 percent from the field, 40.0 percent from the 3-point line and 67.9 percent from the charity stripe.

Coming Up
A win in the quarterfinals would send the Cougars to one of two semifinal games to be played on Monday, March 7 at noon PT.