Harry comes off bench to lead Cougars to victory at UNLV

LAS VEGAS – Xojian Harry came off the bench to lead BYU women’s basketball to a 71-64 road win over UNLV, Tuesday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.

“(UNLV) was on fire tonight, but I give (Harry) a lot of credit,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “She gave us a big spark, there’s no question. She came in and hit shots and did things that she really doesn’t practice.”

Harry had career-highs in points, 13, and 3-pointers, three, in the Cougar win. Jennifer Hamson also had 13 points to go along with four boards. Kim Beeston went 3 for 7 from the 3-point line to get in double-digit points with 10, along with a team-leading six assists. Morgan Bailey got her first double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

BYU (2-0) and UNLV (1-1) both finished the game shooting 42 percent from the field, but the Cougars shot 15 more free throws than the Rebels. BYU scored 24 points off of UNLV turnovers in the win, compared to just 10 for the Rebels.

Bailey got things started for the Cougars in the first half with two quick layups for BYU’s first four points.  

The Rebels’ Mia Bell went 2 for 3 early on from the 3-point line to tie the score at 8-8. The Cougars then went on an 11-0 run to take a double-digit lead at 19-8.

Turnovers were a source of concern in the first half for UNLV, losing the ball 12 times compared to BYU’s eight. The Rebels also had seven fouls in the first nine minutes of action.

Lexi Eaton picked up a third foul in the first half of play with 6:10 remaining after a technical was called after a turnover. Both Eaton and Hamson sat for the last six minutes of play, having each picked up three fouls.

The Cougars led by as many as 12 points with 1:05 left to go in the first half. UNLV quickly scored a bucket and shortly after got two free throws to go down. The Rebels held for the last shot of the first half and Jehiah Cook scored an acrobatic layup to cut BYU’s lead to 33-26 at halftime.

Coming out of the break, Hamson got the first bucket from a Kylie Maeda assist. UNLV then went on a 10-0 run to take a 36-35 lead from another Bell three. It was the Rebels’ first lead since the 5-4 mark.

Harry came off the bench for the Cougars, quickly scoring 2 of 3 from the 3-point stripe, to help BYU take the lead again. All of Harry’s points were scored in the second half.

There were a total of six ties and six lead changes in the game before the Cougars took control again.

The Rebels went on a late surge, but it wasn’t enough as BYU won its first road game of the season 71-64.   

BYU heads back home to the Marriott Center on Saturday, Nov. 16, to face Boston College at 4 p.m. MST. Links to live stats can be found on the BYU women’s basketball schedule page.

Postgame Notes

Team

At the break, BYU had a 17 to 7 advantage in points made off of UNLV miscues and finished the game scoring 24 points from Rebel turnovers.

The Cougars edged out the Rebels in the rebound category pulling down 36 to 33.

BYU’s bench came up big in the win over UNLV scoring 31 points. UNLV finished with 11 points from its bench.

Player

Jennifer Hamson (13) Kim Beeston (10) and Morgan Bailey (10) all recorded double figure scoring for the second straight time this year.

Bailey finished the game with her first double-double of the season adding 10 boards to her 10 points.

Xojian Harry came off the bench picking up career highs in points with 13 and in 3-pointers made with 3.

For the second straight time, Beeston led the way in assists with a game high six.

Stephanie Rovetti came off the bench to record her first game of the year scoring in double figures with 10, all from the free throw line.