LOGAN, Utah – BYU women’s basketball took down Utah State 64-54 at the Smith Spectrum on Tuesday.

The Cougars (4-5) had three players in double figures, led by Rose Bubakar’s 15 points on 6 of 7 shooting from the field. Nani Falatea added 13 points, seven assists and six rebounds while Lauren Gustin chipped in 11 points and 10 rebounds.

"It was a good grind it out win," BYU head coach Amber Whiting said. "We need to work on some things but a win is a win. We were in control and need to take care of the turnovers. Working together is key."

Gustin extended her streak to nine consecutive double-doubles to start the year, leading the Cougars to a 38-29 rebounding edge. 

BYU built up as much as a 19-point lead and held the Aggies (3-6) without a field goal for the last five minutes of the game. The Cougars shot 54.8 percent for the game, including 46.2 from distance and held Utah State to just 28.3 percent from the field.

The win marked back-to-back wins for the first time this season after defeating Boise State last week. 

Box Score

First quarter
Both teams started slow, with the Aggies taking a 6-5 lead at the 5-minute mark in the first quarter.

Falatea hit the first three of the game with 1:31 to go in the first quarter and Gustin followed it up with a layup on the next possession to make it 13-9 heading into the second quarter.

Second quarter
BYU put together a 6-0 run to stretch BYU’s edge to 21-13 in the first four minutes of the second frame.

A layup from Arielle Mackey-Williams made it a double-digit lead at 30-20 with two minutes left until halftime.

The Cougars took a 34-20 lead into halftime after Falatea completed a three-point play and Bubakar got a steal and one more free throw make before the break. Falatea led all scorers with 10 points at halftime and BYU shot 60.0 percent from the field.

Third quarter
BYU and Utah State traded threes but the Cougars built a 42-29 lead after Mackey-Williams drained another triple four minutes into the second half.

Amanda Barcello got on the board with a trey from the corner, giving BYU its biggest lead of the game at 47-30 with 3:35 left in the third quarter. Bubukar banked in a three minutes later and Barcello added another make from downtown for a 53-34 lead.

Utah State made a run at the end of the quarter to close the gap to 53-41 heading into the final 10 minutes.

Fourth quarter
BYU went on a 6-0 run, including back-to-back buckets by Gustin for a 59-43 lead with just over seven minutes to go.

The Aggies made another push down the stretch, turning over the Cougars and cutting the lead down to 10 points. BYU held on to win it 64-54 in the end.

BYU plays another in-state game on Saturday, hosting nationally-ranked No. 15 Utah at the Marriott Center at 5 p.m. in Provo. The game will be televised on BYUtv and streamed on the BYUtv App and BYUtv.org.

PROVO, Utah – The Cougars head up north for an in-state matchup against Utah State at the Smith Spectrum in Logan on Tuesday at 11 a.m. MT. The game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network. 

Utah State (3-5) is coming off back-to-back wins against Weber State and Utah Valley while BYU (3-5) beat Boise State on the road last week. 

BYU (3-5) at Utah State (3-5)
Tuesday, Dec. 6
Logan, Utah
Smith Spectrum

Stream: MW Network
Live Stats at Utah State
On Twitter: @BYUwbb

BYU Game Notes

Utah State Game Notes

• UTAH STATE (DEC. 6). BYU and Utah State are meeting for the 45th time in the series. The Cougars have dominated the series, owning a 39-4 record against the Aggies. Last year the two schools met in Provo with BYU winning 101-74.
• LAST GAME. The Cougars got their first true road win with a 76-67 victory at Boise State last Thursday. Lauren Gustin continued to be a force down low, scoring a season-high 24 points and pulled down 17 rebounds for her 8th double-double in eight games.
• NEW ERA. BYU has a new head coach in Amber Whiting for the first time in 21 seasons after the retirement of Jeff Judkins. Judkins, the winningest coach in school history (455 wins) paved the way for first-time head coach Amber Whiting, a Cougar alum to take the rains in 2022-23. BYU is will also need to replace the WCC Player of the Year (Shaylee Gonzales), another All-WCC First Team selection (Paisley Harding) and an All-WCC Honorable Mention (Tegan Graham). The Cougars are also replacing point guard Maria Albiero who was tied with Paisley Harding for the most played games in school history.
• DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE. Forward Lauren Gustin continues to be a force down low, No. 2 nationally in double-doubles with 8, one in every game to start the year. She is averaging 16.4 points per game and 14.0 rebounds. She is No.2 nationally in rebounds per game. The junior from Salem, Utah, is No. 3 in total rebounds with 112. Gustin posted a season-high 20 rebounds against No. 16 Oklahoma.
• SPREADING IT AROUND. BYU has had seven different players hit double figures in a single game. Lauren Gustin has done it in every game (8) while Nani Falatea has  six games. Kaylee Smiler has hit at least 10 four times, Rose Bubakar 4 times, Arielle Mackey-Williams twice, and Amanda Barcello and Emma Calvert have done it in one game apiece.