SANTA CLARA, Calif.—A tight road game ended in the ninth-straight win for the No. 23 BYU women’s basketball team, which overcame a second-half deficit to take down Santa Clara, 74-64, Saturday afternoon.

BYU continues its domination in conference play with an 8-1 league record. The win increased the team’s overall record to 20-3, giving head coach Jeff Judkins his sixth season with 20 or more wins. Santa Clara dropped to 8-13 overall and 1-7 in conference.

“I think every coach when the season starts wants to get 20 wins,” Judkins said. “It’s something you aim for. But I’ve got great players who believe in the system, who believe in each other and believe in me. Tonight was a great example of that. Santa Clara played probably its best game of year, but these kids stuck together and believed in each other.”

Kristen Riley’s career-high four 3-pointers led to 17 points on the game. Riley claimed her second double-double in a row with 11 rebounds. Four more Cougars hit double figures in points, with Jennifer Hamson setting a season high of 16 off the bench, Dani Peterson taking 11 points and true freshman Lexi Eaton and sophomore Kim Parker earning 10 apiece. Hamson also had eight rebounds.

BYU outrebounded Santa Clara 43-32 and forced 16 turnovers.

Santa Clara ran away with the lead after four lead changes in the first four minutes. A 10-0 Bronco run set BYU back 15-8 before Peterson ended the draught on a free throw. Riley threw down the Cougars’ first 3 of the game to cut the score to 18-14. Vermunt followed with her own trey, setting up Eaton to take the lead back for the Cougars on a coast-to-coast layup.

The teams batted the lead back and forth as they exchanged baskets through the rest of the half. Back-to-back Santa Clara jumpers put the Broncos on top by three with seven seconds on the clock. A last-second attempt by the Cougars to tie the score proved fruitless and the score stayed at 39-36 for Santa Clara to end the half.

Riley’s three 3-pointers led the game at the half, adding up to 11 points with her single jumper.

Peterson tied the game at 44 as she entered double figures in scoring. Santa Clara answered with a 6-0 run before BYU got back in the game with its own 6-0 scoring streak.

Bronco Meagan Fulps proved a challenge for the Cougars as they struggled to get back on top. Fulps recorded 24 points on 100 percent shooting before her first missed basket with only 5:42 left in the game.

Steed’s deep 3-pointer, part of a 9-1 run, gave BYU a five-point lead with 1:22 to play and the Cougars finished out the game with six free throws.

“We kind of had a lot of size advantage in the game and my teammates were good to get me the ball inside,” Hamson said. “We’re really proud of [our success]. It’s not just one person who makes this team great and I love that about us.”

The Cougars are back on the road next week for a showdown with Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif. Thursday at 7 p.m. PST.

Postgame Notes

Team

With the 74-64 road victory at Santa Clara, head coach Jeff Judkins picks up his sixth 20-win season and the third straight.

For the first time on the season, BYU had five players scoring in double figures: Riley (17), Hamson (16), Peterson (11), Parker (10), Eaton (10).

The Cougars outrebounded the Broncos 43 to 32 improving their record to 14-1 on the year when they grab more rebounds than their opponents.

Player

Kristen Riley tallied her second-straight double-double at Santa Clara with her 17 points and 11 rebounds. The double-double is the fifth of the year and the ninth overall. She also had a career-high four 3-pointers. The 17 points are her 10^th double-figure outing of the year and the 37^th overall.

Dani Peterson picked up her seventh double-figure game of the season in points with 11, which is also her 11^th career double-digit outing.

Sophomore center Jennifer Hamson came off the bench to record a season-high 16 points while also grabbing eight rebounds, two blocks and was a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line.

Kim Parker was the fourth of five player in double figures for the Cougars with 10 while going 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. The points are Parker’s 15^th double-figure game on the season, the 20^th overall and the third straight.

Lexi Eaton scored 10 points for her eighth-straight WCC game putting up double digits in scoring.

Riding a seven-game win streak, the Cougar women’s basketball team (18-3, 7-1) steps out of WCC action for one game. BYU travels to Washington to take on Seattle University (8-12) on Wed. Jan. 25 in a 7 p.m., PT tip off.

BYU gets back to WCC play on the road again. This time headed for northern California to battle Santa Clara (8-11, 15). The Cougars and Broncos will matchup on Sat. Jan. 28 in a 2 p.m., PT tip from the Leavey Center. Both games can be heard live on BYU Radio.

2011-12 Stats Summary
- Shooting from field: (.450, 566-1258)
- Shooting from three-point line: (.358, 144-402)
- Shooting from free-throw line: (.726, 255-351)
- Average points per game: 72.9
- Average rebounds per game: 40.2
- Average assists per game: 19.4
- Average steals per game: 10.2
- Average blocks per game: 6.0
- Average turnovers per game: 16.1

About BYU
-The Cougars leading scorer is true freshman guard Lexi Eaton who averages 10.9 points per game.
-Senior co-captain Kristen Riley is at the top of the leaderboard in rebounds averaging 6.9 boards per game.
-Haley Steed leads the way in assists and steals with 147 and 47 respectively.
-Jennifer Hamson tops the list in blocks with 48.
-Dani Peterson has the team’s best field goal percentage (.594, 63-106).
-Eaton has the team’s best free throw percentage (.826, 38-46).
-Stephanie Vermunt is the squad’s best scorer from behind the arc, shooting (.558, 29-52).

Winningest Coach in BYU History
- BYU head coach Jeff Judkins became the all-time winningest coach in BYU women’s basketball history, picking up his 220th career win when the Cougars defeated Pepperdine, 80-56 Thurs. Jan. 12, 2012. Judkins passed former BYU coach Courtney Leishman (1977-89) for the record and is now 220-111 (.665) in his 11th season as head coach of the Cougars. Leishman finished at BYU with a 219-124 (.638) record.
- Judkins picked up his 200th career victory in the 64-55 road win at CSU on 2/23/11 last  season. The win marked the fifth 20-plus win season for coach Judkins, and the second straight.

Record Breaking Players
- Haley Steed has recorded 469 assists as of 01/23/12, which places her in fourth place all-time. She needs 36 to tie for third place with All-American and current WNBA player Erin Thorn’s 505 career total.
- Steed has 194 steals to date and needs 35 to tie for seventh place with Karina Zapata’s career high 229.
- Steed has made 163 3-pointers as of 01/23/12 putting her in sixth place overall. She needs eight to tie for fifth place with Thais Kidd's career best 171.
- Kristen Riley has 74 blocks as of 01/23/12 and needs five to tie for fifth place all-time with Cathy Nixon’s 79.
- Riley has grabbed 619 rebounds as of 1/23/12, which puts her tied for ninth place with former teammate Coriann Fraughton's 619. She needs 15 to move into an eighth place tie with former All-American Ambrosia Anderson who grabbed 634 career rebounds.
- As of 01/23/12, 6-7 sophomore center Jennifer Hamson has tallied 93 blocks and needs 32 to tie for fourth place all-time with the 125 recorded by Jill Adams.

Cougs Break Into Top 25
With a 18-3, 7-1 mark the team is ranked No. 23 in the AP Poll for the week beginning Jan. 23. They receiving votes (1) last week as well as the week of 12/26/11 when the Cougars were 11-2.  That week they also received one vote in the USA Today ESPN Coaches Poll.

Win Streak
BYU is currently on a seven-game win streak, winning the last five league games. Earlier this season the Cougars won 10 games in a row, which was the longest current winning streak in the West Coast Conference before losing its debut game competing in the WCC, a 48-54 decision at Saint Mary’s.
Last season BYU went on a 12-game win streak during the 2011 Mountain West Conference race.
The longest win streak in the program’s history is 15 games played from 12/31/92 to 2/26/93.

WEDNESDAY OPPONENT
SEATTLE UNIVERSITY
Seattle has compiled a (12-8) record to date, most recently picking up a 86-58 road win at UC Irvine. They’ve played five WCC teams getting wins over San Francisco, Portland and Santa Clara and losing to San Diego and Saint Mary’s. The Redhawks have three players scoring double figures in points led by Talisa Rhea who averages 14.0 points and grabs 4.4 rebounds per contest. She’s followed by Kacie Sowell who tallies 13.9 points and is tops on the glass getting 8.8 boards per game. Ashley Ward rounds out the double digit scoring with 11.3 points and 3.2 boards a game. Rhea has the most assists on the team with 113 while Daidra Brown has a team best 29 assists to date. Seattle is shooting 44 percent from the field, 32 percent from three-point range and 68 percent at the free throw line while scoring 71.7 points per game. Head coach Joan Bonvicini is in her third season with the women’s basketball program at Seattle.

Series Breakdown
This will be the first meeting between these two schools.

SATURDAY WCC OPPONENT
SANTA CLARA
Santa Clara enters this week’s WCC race with a (8-11, 1-5) record. They are at Saint Mary’s on Thursday night before hosting the Cougars on Saturday afternoon. The Broncos have three players that are putting up double figures in points. Senior guard Alyssa Shoji tops the list with 15.6 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. She’s followed by Morgan Phillips, a 5-7 junior guard, who contributes 10.8 points and 4.0 boards in games. Rounding out double digits in scoring is 6-2 junior forward Lindsay Leo with her 10.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per contest. Santa Clara is averaging 69.7 points while shooting 42 percent from the field. Shoji has the most assists with 62 and with Ricki Radanovich getting a team best 27 steals to date. Head coach Jennifer Mountain is in her fourth season at the helm of the women’s basketball program for the Broncos.

Series Breakdown
Overall Series Record: BYU leads the series 2-1
BYU Record in Provo: 1-0
BYU Record in Santa Clara: 1-1
BYU Record in Neutral Sites: n/a
BYU Record under coach Judkins: 2-0
BYU Record in Overtime Games: n/a

Last Meeting
The last time these two teams met was during the 2006-07 season on Nov. 22, 2006 with the then No. 22 ranked Cougar team defeated the Broncos 77-63 in Provo. In that game current assistant coach Melinda Johnsen (Bendall) tallied 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists and one block. Freshman Haley Hall (Steed) came off the bench grabbing two rebounds, one point and one assist.

Travel Itinerary
To Seattle -
Team Flight (1/24/12): Delta #1457 departs Salt Lake City at 1:55 p.m., arriving in Seattle at 5:55 p.m.
Team Flight (1/26/12): Delta #1857 departs Seattle at 10:10 a.m., arriving in Salt Lake City at 1:09 p.m.
Hotel: Courtyard Seattle Downtown/Lake Union, 925 Westlake Avenue North, 206-213-0100, 206-213-0101, fax.

To Santa Clara -
Team Flight: (1/27/12): SW #180 departs Salt Lake City at 1:15 p.m., arriving in Oakland at 2:15 p.m.
Team Flight: (1/29/12): SW #1699 departs Oakland at 8 a.m., arriving in Salt Lake City at 10:50 a.m.
Hotel: Santa Clara Marriott, 2700 Mission College Blvd., 408-988-1500, 408-352-4353, fax.

What’s Next
The Cougars make one more road trip to California for its next WCC game. BYU will be in southern California on Thurs., Feb.  2 for a contest in Malibu against Pepperdine. That game tips off at 7 p.m., PT.

BYU then returns home for its next five league games beginning on Feb. 4 when they host Saint Mary’s in a 1 p.m. tip off. The following week No. 22 Gonzaga will make its first ever trip to the Marriott Center on Feb. 9. That game tips off at 7 p.m. and will air live worldwide on BYUtv.