MORAGA, Calif.—With the lead slipping away as the second half expired, the BYU women’s basketball team couldn’t rally to prevent a 64-52 Saint Mary’s victory on the road Saturday.

With the Saint Mary’s win, BYU (16-6, 7-3 West Coast Conference) drops out of the tie for second place in the league while the Gaels (16-6, 8-2 WCC) retain sole ownership behind No. 1 Gonzaga.

“We have to move on and realize we have our backs against the wall,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “We just have to take it one game at a time.”

Haley Steed led the Cougar effort with 18 points on six 3-pointers, shooting 54.5 percent from 3-point land. She also contributed seven assists and four rebounds.

“Haley’s tough,” Judkins said. “Haley’s a competitor. That’s how she plays when things aren’t right.” 

Steed was helped out by Keilani Unga, who contributed 12 points and five rebounds.

BYU struggled with early turnovers, giving Saint Mary’s five points off eight BYU turnovers. Down 14-8, Steed drained her second 3-pointer of the afternoon. An offensive rebound by Jennifer Hamson gave Steed a chance for a second-straight trey to tie it up at 14.

Unga added to Steed’s six points with a layup of her own, drawing the BYU run out to 8-0 and pushing the Cougars into their first lead of the game at 16-14. Steed drained another from 3-point land, her fourth of the game, to get the point guard into double figures and the BYU lead to 21-16.

The Cougars shot 50 percent from beyond the arc thanks to Steed’s 4 for 7 shooting and Stephanie Vermunt Seaborn’s 2 for 4 shooting. Overall BYU shot 52.4 percent in the first half.

The Gaels chipped BYU’s lead down to two on back-to-back field goals with just over four minutes to play until halftime. The Cougars held on, heading into halftime with a 30-28 lead.

A Gael 3-pointer opened the second half, but Steed responded with another from downtown to retake the lead. The teams leapfrogged back and forth for seven lead changes before Gael Mia Greco sank back-to-back jumpers for a 43-40 Saint Mary’s lead.

A 12-2 Gael run left BYU scrambling to get back in the game. Trailing 57-47 with 2:25 to play, BYU increased its score to 52 on a 3-pointer by Morgan Bailey, but it wasn’t enough to beat the seven additional points from Saint Mary’s.

BYU returns to the Marriott Center to host Santa Clara in a Valentine’s Day breast cancer awareness pink game on Thursday at 7 p.m. MST. The game airs live on BYUtv.

Postgame Notes

Team

Both teams shot 50 percent from 3-point range in the first half with BYU making seven treys to SMC’s two. For the game, the Cougars shot 46 percent from behind the arc making 11-of-24 treys.

For the 19^th time this season, BYU dished out more assists than its opponents. The Cougars had 15 and the Gaels had 13.

BYU recorded six blocks to SMC’s four.

Player

Haley Steed scored three straight treys to tie the score at 14 with 9:42 left in the first half. At halftime she led all scorers with 12 points, ending the game with a game-high 18 for her 10^th double-figure score in points this season. Steed also had the most assists in the game with seven.

Keilani Unga put up 12 points marking her sixth game with double digits in points and the fourth straight.

Kim Parker Beeston led BYU in rebounds with seven, scored three points and had four assists.

Jennifer Hamson had a game-high four blocks.

With a 15-6 record and a 6-2 mark in West Coast Conference action, BYU women’s basketball resumes league play this week with two contests. This Thursday, the Cougars host San Diego (15-7, 7-3) in an early 6 p.m. MST tip. The game will air live on BYUtv.

BYU then travels to Moraga, Calif., to battle Saint Mary’s (14-6, 6-2) on Saturday at 2 p.m., PST. Fans can listen to the game live on BYU Radio, Sirius XM 143 and online at byuradio.org.

GAME PROMOTIONS - San Diego (White Out)
Everyone is encouraged to wear white.
White pom-poms will be handed out to fans.
Come participate in halftime contests
Get on the floor to do the very popular Chicken Dance with the kids

BYU Capsule
The Cougar team has outrebounded its opponents in 13 of the games played.  The BYU bench has outscored the opponent’s bench 412-254. When comparing points in the paint, the Cougars have scored 540 points to 464 from opponents. BYU has enjoyed a halftime lead in all but five games to date (vs. SMC, at USF, at Gonzaga, vs. Seattle and at Washington State). In only four contests (at USF, at Gonzaga, at Boston College and at Washington State) the Cougars did not record more assists than their opponents. Balanced scoring has added to the team’s success this year. To date, three players have put up double figures in points in 10 games and four players finished with double-digit scoring in three games.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78), enters his 12th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #4 Kim Beeston, 10.7 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #5 Jennifer Hamson, 7.5 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #33 Haley Steed, 7.7 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #33 Steed, 2.3 spg

BYU’S PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
#33 Haley Steed– (5-4 guard, GS.) 10.1 ppg; 4.1 rpg; 7.7 apg
#4 Kim Parker Beeston– (5-11 guard, Jr.) 10.7 ppg; 3.9 rpg; 2.1 apg
#12 Stephanie Vermunt Seaborn – (6-0 guard/forward, Jr.) 6.6 ppg; 2.5 rpg; 1.3 apg
#45 Keilani Unga– (6-2 forward, Sr.) 6.3 ppg; 4.2 rpg; 0.8 apg
#5 Jennifer Hamson– (6-7 center, Jr.) 9.8 ppg; 7.5 rpg; 0.5 apg

San Diego Capsule
Entering the week, the University of San Diego has compiled a 7-3 mark in WCC play and is 15-7 overall. The Toreros’ three conference losses have been to Gonzaga and to BYU. USD returns nine letterwinners and two starters from last year’s team that finished the year with a 26-9, 12-4 record (tied for second with BYU in WCC action) and went to the Final Four of the WNIT.

• Head coach: Cindy Fisher is in her seventh year at San Diego
• Team’s leading scorer: #10 Amy Kame, 16.8 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #21 Klara Wischer, 7.6 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #10 Kame, 4.0 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #10 Kame, 2.6 spg

Series History
The Cougars lead the series 5-0.

Last Meeting
These two teams met once already this season on Jan. 10 in San Diego. In the closely fought game, BYU came away with the three-point 57-54 win in overtime. Three Cougars scored in double figures, with Stephanie Vermunt Seaborn leading the way scoring 16. She shot 6 for 9 from the field and 3 for 5 from beyond the arc. Jennifer Hamson put up 13 points and Kim Beeston had 10, including two 3-pointers of her own. Hamson also led on the boards with nine. Haley Steed dished out 10 assists.

BYU shot 47.1 percent from 3-point land, 38.5 percent overall, and held the Toreros to shooting 31.3 percent. San Diego outrebounded BYU 47-34.

The Toreros were led in scoring by Amy Kame who had a game-best 25 points along with eight rebounds and five steals. Felicia Wijensberg also put up double digits in points with 14.

Saint Mary’s Capsule
The Gaels have compiled a 14-6, 6-2 record to date. They host Portland Thursday night before battling the Cougars on Saturday afternoon. Saint Mary’s two league losses were to San Diego in Moraga, Calif., on Jan. 17 and to BYU on Jan. 31 in Provo. On this year’s team, the Gaels return 10 letterwinners including three starters from last year’s team that went 22-11 and advanced to the second round of the WNIT.

• Head coach: Paul Thomas enters his seventh year with Saint Mary’s
• Team’s leading scorer: #3 Jackie Nared, 18.4 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #54 Danielle Maulding, 11.3 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #24 Morgan Hatten, 3.3 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #54 Maulding, 1.4 spg

Series History
BYU leads the series 2-1.

Last Meeting
On January 31, these two conference foes met in Provo where BYU picked up the 66-58 victory behind 14 points each from Kim Parker Beeston and Haley Steed.
Keilani Unga also finished with double digits in scoring with 13.  Jennifer Hamson led the Cougar team in the rebound category with eight. Steed dished out a game-high nine assists to go along with five steals.
For the game, BYU shot 38 percent form the field, 40 percent from behind the arc and 72 percent from the free-throw line. 
The Gaels shot 34 percent from the field, 29 percent from 3-point range and 67 percent from the line. Jackie Nared finished the game with a double-double from 18 points and 11 boards. Danielle Mauldin and Kate Gaze scored 10 points apiece.

What’s Next
On Feb. 14, the Cougar women return home for their next league game when they host Santa Clara at 7 p.m. MST. The game can be seen live on BYUtv. Then it’s off to southern California for a second meeting with WCC foe Pepperdine. The Cougars and Waves play Saturday, Feb. 16 in a 2 p.m. PST tip off.