PROVO, Utah — BYU women’s basketball suffered a 69-59 loss to Santa Clara at the Marriott Center on Saturday afternoon, snapping a seven-game winning streak.

“Credit to Santa Clara, they came in here, did their job and played really well together,” BYU head coach Amber Whiting said. “They are a tough guard for us. They have a lot of good players, pass the ball really well and they hit shots. We need to learn from this loss and get back to work on Monday.”

The Broncos (13-9, 4-5) went 10-for-21 (.476) from behind the arc, 15-for 17 from the free throw line and assisted on 16-of-22 made field goals on the night.

BYU (11-9, 6-3) had three Cougars score in double-figures as Nani Falatea, Lauren Gustin and Kaylee Smiler combined for 47 of the 59 points.

Falatea finished with 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting to notch her second-straight 20-point game and third of the season. The sophomore standout also recorded six boards, three assists and two steals.

Gustin recorded her 19th double-double in 20 games this season in the loss. The junior finished with 14 points on 7-of-14 shooting, 15 rebounds, an assist and a steal.

Smiler scored in double figures for the sixth time this season as she finished with 13 points on a 3-for-6 clip, going 2-for-3 from deep.

Box Score

First Quarter
Emma Calvert opened the scoring with a top-of-the-key three before finding Gustin on the Cougars second possession to take an early 5-0 lead.

Arielle Mackey-Williams knocked down BYU’s second triple in transition to go up 8-0 before Santa Clara got on the board with a three of their its own.

Mackey-Williams found Gustin on the roll for two to take a 10-3 lead with 6:57 left In the opening quarter. The Broncos responded by hitting three-straight triples to go up 12-10.

After the media timeout, Falatea and Gustin connected on consecutive possessions to retake the lead, 14-12. 

BYU trailed 20-16 at the end of the first with Santa Clara scoring 18-of-20 points via three-point field goals, going 6-for-9 in the opening quarter. In contrast, the Cougars scored eight of their 14 points in the paint, all from Gustin.

Second Quarter
Falatea hit back-to-back triples for BYU to knot the score at 24 with 8:03 left in the half. After trading buckets with Santa Clara, Falatea again stepped into a three to give the Cougars the lead 31-28.

Another score from Gustin off an assist from Amanda Barcello followed by a Smiler three gave BYU a 36-35 advantage at the half.

Third Quarter
The Cougars were held scoreless through the first four minutes of the third quarter, in which time the Broncos went on a 14-0 run. 

The run was ended by a Smiler corner three before Mackey-Williams found Heather Hamson for her first points of the night to draw within eight. 

After a Santa Clara timeout, Hamson found Gustin in a high-low action to cut the Bronco lead to seven with just under a minute to play, but Santa Clara knocked down two free throws to take a 52-43 lead into the final ten minutes.

Fourth Quarter
Falatea opened the fourth with a driving right-handed scoop to again draw within seven. Three consecutive defensive stops and a free-throw from Smiler made it a two-possession game for the first time since the 8:57 mark of the third quarter.

Three-straight scores for Santa Clara bumped the lead back to 12 with 5:13 to play, but an old-fashioned three-point play for Falatea trimmed the lead to nine.

Despite attempts to cut into the Bronco lead, Santa Clara went 9-for-9 from the charity stripe in the last four minutes to seal a 69-59 win over BYU.

The Cougars will next take the court as they travel to Moraga to take on the Saint Mary’s Gaels on Thursday, January 26th at 6:30 p.m PT. The game will be streamed on the WCC Network.

PROVO, Utah – The BYU women's basketball team, winners of six in a row, hosts San Francisco on Thursday and Santa Clara on Saturday at the Marriott Center. Thursday's game is set to begin at 11 a.m. MT while Saturday's contest is at 2 p.m. MT. Both games will be broadcast on BYUtv, the BYUtv App and BYUtv.org

The weekday early game Thursday will feature thousands of local elementary school children in attendance for an annual kid's game. Halftime will be Tyler's Amazing Balancing Act for some extra entertainment at the game. 

BYU (10-8, 5-2) vs. San Francisco (13-6, 3-4)
Thursday, Jan, 19
11 a.m. MT
Live TV: BYUtv
Stream: BYUtv App and BYUtv.org
Live Stats

BYU (10-8, 5-2) vs. Santa Clara (11-9, 2-5)
Saturday, Jan. 21
2 p.m. MT
Live TV: BYUtv
Stream: BYUtv App and BYUtv.org
Live Stats

On Twitter: @BYUwbb

BYU Game Notes

• SAN FRANCISCO (JAN. 19). The Dons are 13-6 on the year and 3-4 to start WCC play. San Francisco is coming off a loss vs. Saint Mary’s last week. USF features the WCC’s leading scorer in Ioanna Krimili, averaging 18.2 points per game.
• SANTA CLARA (JAN 21). Santa Clara has a record of 11-9 and is 2-5 in league action. The Broncos beat Pacific last week 80-66 and will be at San Diego on Thursday before heading to Provo. Tess Heal is No. 3 in scoring in the WCC at 16.4 points per game.
• CONFERENCE PLAY. The Cougars are into West Coast Conference action for the remainder of the 2022-23 season. BYU has won five league games in a row after beating LMU and Pepperdine on the road last week.
• SCORING DUO. BYU has two players averaging double-figure scoring with Lauren Gustin and Nani Falatea. Gustin leads the squad and is eighth in the WCC at 15.3 points while Falatea is at 13.9 points. Rose Bubakar is just outside the double-digit group with 9.2 points per game.
• NATION’S BEST. Forward Lauren Gustin continues to be a force down low, leading the nation with 16.2 rebounds per game. She is No. 2 in double-doubles with 17 in 18 games. Gustin is averaging 15.3 points per game and 16.2 rebounds. She is No. 1 nationally in total rebounds with 291. The junior from Salem, Utah has posted 20 or more rebounds six times this year to lead the country. She had 20 against Oklahoma, 23 against Monmouth, 22 against Pacific, a career-high 24 against San Diego, 24 at LMU and 20 against Pepperdine. She has posted two 20-20 games this year. Gustin has 46 career double-doubles at BYU.