Chiles Center
Portsmouth Ave Portland OR 97203
PORTLAND, Ore. – BYU women's basketball dropped a 67-45 game to the Portland Pilots on the back end of a tough two-game road swing on Monday night at the Chiles Center.
The Cougars (4-8, 0-2) got 13 points tying a career high, eight rebounds and three blocks out of sophomore Emma Calvert but it wasn't enough to overcome a cold shooting night. Calvert went 6 for 10 from the field, but BYU managed just 31.0 percent as a team and fell behind late in the first half and weren't able to mount a comeback down the stretch.
Arielle Mackey-Williams chipped in eight points off the bench, including the Cougars' only two makes from distance. Rose Bubakar added seven points and Lauren Gustin saw her double-double streak end at 11 games, but still had 12 rebounds and seven points.
First half
After a three-minute scoring drought to start the game, Portland got on the board first with a two. Calvert and Gustin answered back with back-to-back buckets for a 4-2 lead four minutes into the game.
The Pilots went on a 9-0 run before Amanda Barcello broke it up with a jumper to cut the lead to 13-8 in the closing minute of the first quarter. Nani Falatea added another score and BYU trailed 14-10 at the end of the first.
The Cougars kept the edge at 20-17 but a Portland 5-0 run put them in a hole with four minutes to play in the first half.
BYU fell behind 32-21 at halftime with the Pilots putting together another run down the stretch.
Second half
Portland pushed its lead to 40-24 over the first five minutes of the second half. BYU and the Pilots traded baskets for most of the remaining third quarter minutes, until a late run put the Cougars in a 20-point deficit heading into the final 10 minutes.
BYU was unable to get the lead under 20 the rest of the way, despite seven points from Calvert and a bucket by Heather Hamson to get on the board late. Portland went on to win 67-45.
The Cougars return home to step out of conference play for one more game, hosting Monmouth at the Marriott Center on Wednesday at 1 p.m. The game will be streamed on BYUtv.org and the BYUtv App.
PROVO, Utah – The BYU women's basketball team will open its West Coast Conference Schedule against No. 23 Gonzaga and Portland this weekend on the road.
League play begins with the Bulldogs in Spokane on Saturday, Dec. 17 at 2 p.m. PST. The game will be streamed on the WCC Network.
BYU then takes on Portland on Monday, Dec. 19 at 6 p.m. PST at the Chiles Center in Portland. The game will also be streamed on the WCC Network and available locally on Portland's CW Network.
BYU (4-6) at No. 23 Gonzaga (9-2)
Saturday, Dec. 17
2 p.m. PST
McCarthey Center
Spokane, Washington
Stream: WCC Network
Live Stats at Gonzaga
BYU (4-6) at No. 23 Gonzaga (9-2)
Monday, Dec. 19
6 p.m. PST
Chiles Center
Portland, Oregon
Stream: WCC Network
Live Stats at Portland
- GONZAGA (DEC. 17). The Bulldogs are coming off a 73-55 win over UC Davis and are 9-2 on the season, ranked No. 23 in the Associated Press Top 25. This will be the second consecutive game against a ranked opponent after playing No. 15 Utah the week before. The Bulldogs defeated the Cougars in the WCC Tournament Championship last season but BYU swept the regular-season series.
- PORTLAND. (DEC. 19). The Pilots beat Portland State 71-56 and will host WCC opponent San Diego on Saturday before welcoming the Cougars on Monday. Last season, BYU lost its only regular-season conference game at Portland last year.
- LAST GAME. The Cougars fought hard against the nation’s top-ranked offense but fell to No. 15 Utah 76-59. The Utes entered the game averaging 97 points per game.
- CONFERENCE PLAY. BYU is opening West Coast Conference play against Gonzaga and Portland. Last year BYU went 15-1 in league play, winning the regular season title. Portland handed BYU its only regular season loss while the Zags defeated the Cougars in the tournament.
- NEW ERA. BYU has a new head coach in Amber Whiting this year 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 and leads the nation with 10 double-doubles in 10 games to start the season. BYU Hall of Famer Tina Gunn Robison began the 1979-80 season with 17 double-doubles in a row, finishing with 27 on the year. Gustin is averaging 16.0 points per game and 13.7 rebounds. She is No. 2 nationally in rebounds per game. The junior from Salem, Utah, is No. 3 in total rebounds with 137. Gustin posted a season-high 20 rebounds against No. 16 Oklahoma.