FRESNO, Calif. – Double-doubles from Shalae Salmon, Sara Hamson and Babalu Ugwu helped BYU women’s basketball to a 71-65 win over Fresno State Thursday night at Save Smart Center.

BYU at Fresno State Final Box Score

"This is a good road win for us and I thought for three quarters we played really well," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "We saw a lot of positives tonight. Shalae was very physical inside and made some nice passes. Sara was active in scoring and she had some great blocks and rebounds in the game."

In her first start of the year, Salmon tallied her first career double-double leading all scorers with 16 points and adding 11 rebounds. Hamson also recorded her first career double-double tallying 11 points and 14 rebounds while Ugwu had 10 points and 11 rebounds for her first career double-double. Paisley Johnson scored 15 points for BYU with four rebounds and four assists.

The Cougars got an early lead 7-2 with a 3-pointer from Brenna Chase Drollinger, immediately followed by a layup from Hamson. The Bulldogs were able to come from behind tying up the game at 9-9 with two free-throws and a trey of their own. However, BYU quickly transitioned to offense going on a 10-0 run to take its first double-digit lead ending the first quarter at 19-9.

In the second quarter, Drollinger added another bucket to the Cougars run to make the score 21-9. Fresno State ended its scoring drought with two free-throws but BYU countered with two of its own to keep its double-digit lead at 23-11. The Cougars continued to put up points going on a 7-0 streak making it a 17-point game at 32-11 with just under four minutes left in the quarter.

After a Bulldog timeout, Fresno State came out strong going on a 9-0 run to bring the score within eight points at 32-24. BYU regained control with two free-throws from Johnson and a layup from Drollinger to end the half with a 12-point lead over Fresno State at 36-24.

The Cougars went into halftime shooting a 40 percent clip from the paint with a 42.9 shooting percentage from the 3-point line. BYU was able to hold the Bulldogs to a 3-point shooting percentage of only 11.1 as well as a 27.3 field goal clip. Hamson out-rebounded the entire Bulldogs team tallying nine rebounds of her own in the first half to Fresno State’s four.

To start the second half, Salmon sank a shot from the paint increasing BYU's lead to 38-26. Four straight Bulldog free-throws brought the score within 10 points at 38-28 and the two teams traded points before two layups from Ugwu, a 3-pointer from Maria Albiero and a layup from Hamson made the score 53-34. The third quarter ended with BYU ahead by 16 points at 55-39.

BYU got its first 20-point lead early in the final quarter as Salmon made a layup followed by a bucket from Ugwu to make the score 59-39.

However, the Bulldogs made a late surge in the fourth quarter coming from behind. Four-straight 3-pointers from Fresno State brought the game to within six points with 42 seconds left in the game. They added two free-throws bringing the game to within five points at 68-63 with 15 seconds left on the clock.

BYU was able to hold off the Bulldogs for the rest of the game taking the 71-65 win as Drollinger hit a free throw with four seconds left in the game.

The Cougars returns home to take on in-state foe Utah State on Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 11 a.m. MT in the Marriott Center. The game will be broadcast live on BYUtv.

Postgame Notes at Fresno State
Team
With the 71-65 road win over Fresno State, the BYU women’s basketball improved its record to 2-1 on the year.

The Cougars finished the game shooting 38 percent from the field, 28 percent from behind the arc and 70 percent from the free-throw line.

BYU concluded the game with the advantage in rebounds, pulling down 57 to FSU’s 40. It also tallied 40 points in the paint compared with 24 for the Bulldogs.

The Cougars finished the contest dishing out 16 assists to nine for Fresno State.

The Bulldogs concluded the game with the advantage in steals with eight to the Cougars three. FSU’s bench scored 32 points compared with 15 for BYU.

In the game, the Cougars recorded 20 second-chance points while the Bulldogs finished the contest with 16.

Player
Senior Shalae Salmon recorded her first career double-double from a game-high 16 points along with season bests in rebounds with 11.

Junior Sara Hamson picked up her first career double-double from a game-best 14 rebounds along with 11 points. The points are season bests. Her stat line also included one assist and game-high four blocks. Hamson was perfect from the field going 5 of 5.

Babalu Uguw finished the game with her first double-double of her career with 10 points and 11 rebounds. The boards are season and career highs.

Paisley Johnson scored 15 points for her second-straight double-digit outing in points and her 33rd career game with 10+points. She also dished out four assists and grabbed four rebounds.  

In her third start of the season, Maria Albiero dished out a game-high five assists to go along with three rebounds and five points. She was perfect from the charity stripe making both free throws in the game.

Brenna Drollinger tied her season highs in rebounds with six while recording two steals, two blocks, two assists while contributing nine points in the win.

PROVO, Utah — BYU women’s basketball (1-1) takes its second road trip of the season traveling to Fresno, California, to take on the Bulldogs (3-1) on Thursday, Nov. 21, at 6 p.m. PST. The game will have a video stream on the Mountain West Network. A video link is available on byucougars.com.

BYU at Fresno State Game Notes

ABOUT BYU

• Heading into the third week of the 2019-20 season, BYU women’s basketball is 1-1 on the year
• With 394 total wins, head coach Jeff Judkins is the all-time winningest men’s or women’s BYU basketball head coach. He needs six wins to reach 400 victories, a coaching milestone
• Senior Jasmine Moody has the most playing experience on this year’s team (99 total games)
• The Cougars return 10 letterwinners and three starters, while adding five newcomers and one redshirt freshman
• Junior guard Paisley Johnson leads the team in scoring with a 13.5 average; junior center Sara Hamson tops the leaderboard in rebounds, pulling down 10.0 per game and also has the most blocks on the team with three; junior guard Maria Albiero and freshman guard Leilani Otuafi tie for most assists on the team with six for a 3.0 average
• After finishing second in last year’s West Coast Conference race and winning the league’s tournament crown, BYU was selected to finish second in the conference race
• Three Cougar players were named to the 2019-20 Preseason All-WCC Team: Brenna Chase Drollinger, Paisley Johnson and Sara Hamson

ABOUT FRESNO STATE

• Fresno State has compiled a 3-1 record to date recording wins over Cal Poly, UC Davis and Montana; their lone loss is to WCC member Portland
• The team returns six letterwinners including three starters from last year’s team that went 19-13, 11-7, on the season, finishing fourth in the Mountain West Conference (MWC); they played in the first round postseason WNIT losing to WCC foe Pacific 77-72
• The Bulldogs are the first of three teams from the MWC that the Cougars will play this year; BYU hosts Utah State on Jan. 26 and will play San Jose State on Dec. 18 in Maui
• Head coach Jaime White is in her sixth season at the helm of the FSU women’s basketball program where she has a 102-66 record

UP NEXT FOR BYU

BYU is back for two home games during the Thanksgiving holiday. The Cougars host in-state rival, Utah State on Tuesday, Nov. 26, in an 11 a.m. tip in the popular Kids’ Game. Then in-state rival Utah comes to Provo on Friday, Nov. 29. The Cougars and Utes tip at 7 p.m. MDT. Both games will be carried live on BYUtv and on the BYUtv App.