BYU vs. Tulsa Final Box Score

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Kalani Purcell, Kristine Nielson and Makenzi Pulsipher led BYU women’s basketball over Tulsa, 71-56, to capture the UNM Thanksgiving Tournament title Saturday afternoon. 

Kristine Nielson was named the tournament MVP and Kalani Purcell made the all-tournament team.

“This is a great tournament  MVP honor and well deserved for Kristine,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. 

“We had a lot of kids play better today. Makenzi was solid and consistent as she’s been all year. Kalani had a really good game. The bench gave us a good lift and efensively we did a good job picking the ball and making some great stops.”

Nielson was named the MVP as she contributed a career-high 17 points, five rebounds and three assists in the win. She came away shooting 60 percent from the field and 3-point line and 67 percent from the free-throw line.

Purcell led the Cougars in points with 19, assists with six and in blocks with two. She shot 9-of-15 from the field and 1-of-3 from the charity stripe.

Pulsipher added 15 points and led the Cougars in rebounds with eight. Cassie Broadhead chipped in seven points and had seven rebounds and four assists on the game.

Layups from Jasmine Moody and Nielson gave the Cougars an early 4-0 lead in the first period. Pulsipher hit a 3-pointer at the 3:46 mark to put BYU up 9-4. With 1:29 to go in the first period, Brenna Chase and Pulsipher hit back-to-back shots leading the Cougars on an 8-0 run. BYU ended the first period up 17-8.

BYU opened the second quarter with a Pulsipher free throw. Tulsa pulled within seven, 18-11, after hitting its first 3-pointer of the night. On the next play, Nielson drove down the court to go for a layup. Purcell followed right behind taking it to the basket one right after another. But the Golden Hurricane's offense took a stand and went on a 6-0 run to bring them back within four, 26-22.

Haley Rydalch finished off the half with a layup for her first points of the game. BYU went into the half up 28-22, despite 11 first half turnovers. Pulsipher and Purcell made six of BYU’s 12 first-half field goals and scored 14 of the first 28 points for the Cougars.

The Cougars scored 22 of their 28 points from in the paint and had nine fast-break points. BYU also went in to the half leading for 17 minutes of the first 20 minutes.

Purcell started off the third period driving down the inside for another layup. Nielson hit her first 3-pointer of the night after back-to-back layups put Tulsa within four of BYU. The Cougars extended their lead to a 14-point advantage, after going on a 10-0 run. Of those 10 points, Purcell scored five of them with two layups and a free throw. Broadhead scored the other five after she converted a 3-point play and hit a pair of foul shots.

BYU kept its lead throughout the remainder of the third period. With 1:32 to go, BYU went on a 7-3 run, with Nielson leading the charge scoring five of the seven points. The Cougars ended the third period up by 18 points, 53-35.

In the third period alone, the Cougars scored 25 points, almost doubling their half time score. Nielson led the quarter scoring eight points while Purcell added seven and Pulsipher and Broadhead each chipped in five.

The two teams traded the ball back and forth during the last period. Nielson came in hot hitting her third 3-pointer of the night at the 9:26 mark. Layups one right after the other from Purcell, Pulsipher and Moody extended the Cougars lead to 64-43.

With 4:20 to go in the game, a 3-pointer from Tulsa got them going on an 11-5 run, but it wasn’t enough as the Cougars came away with a 71-56 win.
 

The Cougars continue competing on the road. Next week they head to Wailuku, Hawaii for the Maui Wahine Classic, Dec. 2-3 where they will play UNLV and Oregon State. The games will be played at the War Memorial Sports Complex. 

Postgame Notes

Team
The Cougars went on a 9-0 run to finish the first period up by nine, 17-8. They were outscored 14 to 11 in the second period, but went into the break up by six, 28-22. At the end of the third period and behind five points from Kristine Nielson, BYU had an 18-point, 53-35 lead. The Cougars had their largest lead of the game by 21, 56-35 with 9:26 left in the game and won by 15, 71-56.

Through 20 minutes of play, BYU had scored 22 of its 28 points in the paint. Tulsa had just four points. For the game, BYU tallied 42 points in the paint to 16 for the Golden Hurricane.

BYU outrebounded TLS 23 to 12 in the first half. The team pulled down a total of 44 for the game while Tulsa finished with 21 boards.

Both teams tied in the assist category with each dishing out 16.

For the second straight time, the Cougars had the advantage in blocks, recording six to the Golden Hurricane’s one.

Three players scored in double digits for the first time this season. Purcell (19), Nielson (17) and Pulsipher (15).

Player
Kristine Nielson scored a career-high 17 points and was named the tournament’s MVP. The points were the second straight outing in double figures and the third of her career.

Makenzi Pulsipher led the team in the first 20 minutes of play with eight points and six rebounds. She finished with 15 points along with a game-high eight rebounds. She also tied in blocks with two.

Kalani Purcell had six points and three rebounds in the first half. She led all scorers in the game with a season-best 19 points. She pulled down seven boards and had game highs in assists with six and in steals with three.

Cassie Broadhead dished out the most assists in the first half of action with three while pulling down five rebounds. For the game, she had seven points, seven rebounds, four assists, one block and one steal.

Brenna Chase came off the bench in the first half scoring four points and dishing out three assists. She finished the contest with the same totals after playing the most minutes to date, 19.

PROVO, Utah—For the Thanksgiving holiday, BYU women’s basketball (1-2) is on the road spending the weekend in Albuquerque competing in the UNM Thanksgiving Tournament. The Cougars play St. Joseph’s (0-3) on Friday, Nov. 25, at 4:30 p.m. MT. The next day they either play Tulsa (1-3) or tournament hosts New Mexico (2-1) at either 12 p.m., or 2:30 p.m. MT.

BYU Game Notes vs. St. Joseph's

St. Joseph's Game Notes vs. BYU

BYU at a glance
Junior guard Cassie Broadhead leads the scoring threat for the Cougars, averaging 17.0 points per game. Senior guard Makenzi Pulsipher is right behind her with 16.5 points per contest. The duo is also getting 3.0 steals a game each. Senior All-American and the 2016 West Coast Conference Newcomer of the Year, Kalani Purcell, grabs a team-best 9.7 rebounds per contest. Purcell also tops the lists in assists dishing out 3.7 a game.

As a team, BYU is scoring 60.0 points per game while shooting 38.9 percent from the field, 28.8 percent from behind the 3-point line and 67.2 percent from the charity stripe.

In this year’s WCC preseason poll chosen by the coaches, BYU, the defending regular season conference champion, was selected to finish second in the league race behind Gonzaga. Purcell and Pulsipher were named to the Preseason All-Conference team.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78), 16th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #20 C. Broadhead, 17.0 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #32 K. Purcell, 9.7 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #32 K. Purcell, 3.7 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #23 M. Pulsipher/#20 C. Broadhead, 3.0 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #20, C. Broadhead, 1.7 bpg

St. Joseph’s at a glance
St. Joseph’s enters the Thanksgiving Tournament in New Mexico with a 0-3 record. The Hawks were picked to finish 10th in the Atlantic 10 race this year. SJU returns two starters and 11 letterwinners.

Chelsea Woods and Adashia Franklin top the leader board in scoring for St. Joseph’s. The duo is averaging 12.7 points per game each. Alyssa Monaghan is the third player putting up double digits in scoring with 12.0 points a contest. Franklin pulls down a team-best 7.7 rebounds per game. After four games played, the Hawks are averaging 62.7 points a contest while shooting 35.3 percent from the field, 30.8 percent from behind the arc and 72.1 percent from the free-throw line.

• Head coach: Cindy Griffin (St. Joseph’s, ‘91, ‘93), 16th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #32 C. Woods/#33 A. Franklyn, 12.7 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #33 A. Franklyn, 7.7 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #32 C. Woods, 3.7 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #32 C. Woods, 3.3 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #33 A. Franklin, 1.3 bpg

The Series
The series is tied between these two opponents 1-1. They have not played each other since 1988. The two met in another tournament at Purdue on Nov. 26. In that matchup, St Joseph’s defeated the Cougars 101-79.

Tulsa at a glance
Tulsa has compiled a 1-3 record to date with their lone win, a 10-point, 80-70 victory over the University of Missouri at Kansas City (UMKC). The Golden Hurricane returns eight letterwinners including two starters and compete in the American Athletic Conference. In this year’s league race, they were picked to finish ninth.

Erika Wakefield leads the way in scoring for TU, averaging 14.8 points while pulling down 3.5 rebounds. Kendrian Elliott tops the leaderboard in the rebound category grabbing 5.0 boards a game. Tulsa is averaging 69.5 points per game and shoots 43.6 percent from the field and 69.8 percent from the free- throw line.

• Head coach: Matilda Mossman (Western Kentucky, ‘79), Sixth season
• Team’s leading scorer: #03 E. Wakefield, 14.8 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #00 K. Elliott, 5.0 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #10 A. Gaulden, 3.0 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #03 E. Wakefield/#02 T. Perez, 1.0 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #33 C. Polk, 1.0 bpg

The Series
BYU leads the overall series, 7-0. The last time the two teams played was on Dec. 5, 2012, in Provo where the Cougars recorded the 70-48 home victory.

New Mexico at a glance
The Lobos are hosting the tournament and have a 2-1 record to date. Their wins have been over Farleigh Dickinson and New Mexico State. New Mexico plays Tulsa in the second game on Friday. The Lobos just have one returning starter but have seven returning letterwinners. UNM was selected to finish sixth in the Mountain West Conference race this season.

The Lobos have three players recording double figures in scoring, led by 15.3 points per game from Alex Lapeyrolerie. Richelle van der Keijl, who is also the team’s leading rebounder pulling down 12.7 boards, follows with 15.0 points a contest. Mykiel Burleson rounds out the scoring output with her 14.7 points per game. New Mexico is shooting 40.6 percent from the field and 51.1 percent from the charity stripe.

• Head coach: Mike Bradbury (Chattanooga, ’94), First season
• Team’s leading scorer: #04 A. Lapeyrolerie, 15.3 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #15 R. van der Keijl, 12.7 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #00 C. Beynon, 9.7 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #32 K. Keller, 1.3 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #15 R. van der Keijl, 1.7 bpg

The Series
In the series between the two former conference foes, the Cougars lead 40-28. The last time the two teams played was on Mar. 3, 2011 in Albuquerque where BYU came away with the 65-49 win. Head Coach Jeff Judkins has an 8-16 record against the Lobos.

What’s up next
The Cougars continue their nonconference schedule on the road. They are in Maui, Hawaii, competing in the Maui Wahine Classic. They play UNLV on Friday, Dec. 2 and No. 18 Oregon State on Saturday, Dec. 3.