PROVO, Utah – Five Cougars scored in double figures for the first time this season as BYU defeated Northern Colorado 70-50 Friday afternoon in the Marriott Center.

Final Box Score for BYU vs. Northern Colorado

“I thought that tonight we defended very well,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “I’ve got to give Brenna Chase a lot of credit, she guarded their best player and she got her points, but she earned them. I thought our bigs did a really good job both offensively and defensively. It was just a great team effort and I think our depth was a big difference tonight as I could sub and not lose a beat.”

Chase, Shaylee Gonzales, Paisley Johnson, Babalu Ugwu and Jasmine Moody led the Cougars (8-3) by all scoring in double figures. Chase and Gonzales scored 15 and 14 points, each making three 3-pointers. Johnson followed with 12 and Ugwu and Moody both had 10. Johnson and Gonzales both had career highs in steals with five and four, respectively, and Ugwu totaled a career-high six rebounds, five of which were in the first half.

Halfway through the first quarter, Chase drove into the paint for a layup to extend the Cougar lead to 8-4. UNC took the lead away a minute later with the first trey of the game. With a minute left in the quarter, Sara Hamson fed the ball to Moody for a 2-pointer, but BYU finished the quarter down, 17-11.

The Cougars hit the floor running in the second quarter. Gonzales and Johnson knocked down 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to make the Cougars’ lead 19-17 with 7:55 left. BYU held UNC from scoring for five minutes while going on a 12-0 run. Gonzales grabbed a steal and took the ball down the court for a lay-in. The Cougars held the Bears to five points in the quarter and led 33-22 at the break.

Eleven seconds into the second half, Ugwu stole the ball and drove down the court to lay the ball in for the first basket of the third period. The Cougars took a 9-0 run over 1:27 in the middle of the quarter to take the lead to 44-26. BYU's strong defensive effort held the Bears scoreless for over two minutes ending the third quarter up, 46-32.

Ugwu led BYU with three baskets in the paint to bring the Cougars to 52-32 with 8:38 left in the game. Chase maintained BYU’s comfortable lead with back-to-back threes and followed it up on defense with a steal and pass to Johnson for the layup, making the score 62-43 for the Cougars. Alldredge made a 3-point jumper for BYU’s final points.

After Christmas, BYU women's basketball gets set to challenge for a West Coast Conference title, starting league play on the road at Santa Clara on Saturday, Dec. 29.

Postgame Notes vs. Northern Colorado

Team

• Five Cougars scored in double figures for the first time this season.

• BYU started two freshmen for the second consecutive game.

• The Cougars went on a 10-0 run, their largest of the game, to take a 24-19 lead with 6:26 left in the first half.

• BYU outscored UNC 22-5 in the second quarter, holding the Bears to the lowest point total in a quarter for a BYU opponent this season.

• The Cougars forced a season-high 22 turnovers thanks to a season-high 13 steals, and scored 26 points off the takeaways, compared to just 16 from the Bears.

• BYU also dominated in points in the paint and off the bench with 34-14 and 15-4 advantages, respectively.

• The Cougars passed the ball efficiently, racking up 20 assists to the Bears' seven.

Player

• Brenna Chase led BYU with 15 points, including three 3-pointers, and also contributed three assists and a steal

• Babalu Ugwu had career highs in points and rebounds with 10 and six. She had four rebounds midway through the first quarter, doubling Northern Colorado’s two to that point. She then tied her career high with five before halftime.

• Shaylee Gonzales was all over the court, with 14 points, six rebounds, five assists and a career-high four steals in the game. She hit the team’s first 3-pointer early in the second quarter and went on to hit two more on her way to a 12-point first half to lead all scorers.

• Jasmine Moody reached double digits with 10 points, a new season high, midway through the final period to go along with six rebounds

• Paisley Johnson contributed an all-around game with 12 points, six assists and a career-high five steals

PROVO, Utah — BYU women’s basketball (7-3) closes out its nonconference schedule with one more game at home this week. The Cougars host Northern Colorado (5-3) Friday, Dec. 21 in a 12 p.m. start. The game will have a live video stream on TheW.tv.

ABOUT BYU

• The Cougars have recorded wins over UC Riverside, Eastern Washington, Utah State, TCU, California Baptist, Utah Valley and Colorado State.
• After playing in 10 games, BYU is putting up 66.2 points per game while shooting 40.4 percent from the field, 29.4 percent from the 3-point line and 69.8 percent when shooting from the free throw line. The team grabs 40.7 rebounds and has pulled down more boards in six contests to date.
• Freshman Shaylee Gonzales, this week’s WCC Player of the Week, leads the team in scoring with a 17.5 average. Sophomore Paisley Johnson follows with 12.7 points a contest. Junior Brenna Chase rounds out the double-figure scoring with 12 points a game. She also leads the way in assists (4.3) and steals (2.7). Johnson tops the leaderboard in rebounding with a 6.1 average.
• Sophomore center Sara Hamson leads in blocks with 1.8 per contest.
• At least two players have scored in double-digit points in eight of the 10 games played
• BYU was picked to finish third in the WCC preseason poll while junior Brenna Chase and sophomore Sara Hamson were named to the WCC preseason team.
• Northern Colorado is the third team the Cougars have played from the Big Sky Conference. They also played Eastern Washington and Southern Utah.

ABOUT NORTHERN COLORADO

• Northern Colorado (UNC) comes to Provo with a 5-3 record that includes wins over Denver, Colorado State, San Francisco, SMU and Chattanooga. It has a 2-3 record when playing on the road.
• Last year the Bears competed in the first round of the NCAA tournament after compiling a 26-7 record and winning the Big Sky Conference title. 
• The Cougars and Bears met last year in Greeley where UNC won 79-74 in overtime.
• Northern Colorado is scoring 63.0 points and pulls down 39.6 boards per game. The team shoots 40.0 percent from the field, 30.9 percent from behind the arc and 58.5 at the charity stripe.
• Senior Savannah Smith leads the way in scoring for the Bears averaging 15.7 points. Senior Ali Meyer grabs a team-best 11.0 rebounds a contest.
• UNC was selected to finish third in the Big Sky Media Preseason Poll.

UP NEXT FOR BYU

After their last nonconference game on Friday, the Cougars get set to compete for a WCC conference title. BYU opens up league play at Santa Clara on Dec. 29 and San Francisco on Dec. 31.