Hamson leads Cougars over Wildcats for best start in school history

OGDEN, Utah – Jennifer Hamson led BYU women’s basketball to a 90-85 win on the road at Weber State on Tuesday for the team’s best start in school history.

“Great comback,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “I can't say enough about these girls to believe in themselves and not give up and just continue to execute and do what we needed to do. I think the zone won us the game in the second half. It got them (Weber State) out of rhythm. It got them standing around. This was a great performance by a lot of players.”

Hamson led the team with 23 points, 11 rebounds and nine blocks. Lexi Eaton had 25 points and three boards, while Kim Beeston went 6 of 9 from the 3-point line to get 18 points.

BYU (9-0) finished the game shooting 57 percent compared to just 38 percent from the floor for the Wildcats (4-4), but Weber State shot 23 more shots than the Cougars. BYU outrebounded the Wildcats 37-35 overall.

The Wildcats started the second half on a 9-1 run,  extending their largest lead at 24 points. Eaton quickly followed with three-straight layups to cut into the Weber State lead and make the score 65-48, Wildcats.

A 3-pointer from Beeston and a bucket from Hamson cut the Weber State lead to 10 at 72-62, and a pair of Hamson free throws cut the lead to single digits at 77-68.

Beeston hit another 3-pointer to cut the Wildcat lead to two and a Hamson bucket followed to tie the score at 85. Xojian Harry hit a 3-pointer assisted by Stephanie Rovetti to take the Cougars’ first lead since the 6-4 mark. Rovetti sealed the road victory with a pair of free throws, making the final score 90-85.

The Cougars jumped out to a 6-0 lead to begin the game with points coming from three different players. The Wildcats then went on a 7-0 run of their own to counter and take a 7-6 advantage.

BYU turned the ball over often in the first few minutes of the game resulting in 13 points for Weber State helping them pull ahead with an 11-point lead at 33-22.

A 7-0 run fueled the Wildcats to a 16-point lead at 38-22. The run was helped in part by the Wildcats shooting 4 for 5 from the 3-point line early on.

Weber State took its largest lead of the half, 56-38 from a fast-break layup as time expired in the first half of action.

The Wildcats led by as many as 24 points at 63-39 in the second half of play, while the Cougars’ largest lead was six when they opened the game.

BYU returns home to the Marriott Center this Saturday to play Utah in its second of three consecutive in-state rival games. The game will begin at 2 p.m. MST and will be broadcast live on BYUtv. Links to live stats can be found on the BYU women’s basketball schedule page. 

Postgame Notes
Team
After being down by 24 points three minutes into the second half of action, the BYU women’s basketball team battled back to take a five-point, 90-85 road win going on a 14-0 run to close out the game. The Cougars outscored Weber State in the second half 52 to 29. BYU went into the break down by 18, 56-38.

BYU shot 57 percent from the field and 56 percent from 3-point range, both are season bests for the team to date.

The 90 points the Cougars scored against the Wildcats are the most points scored by the team this season.

For the fourth time this year, four Cougar players finished with double digits in scoring, Lexi Eaton (25), Jennifer Hamson (23), Kim Beeston (18) and Xojian Harry (11).

The Cougars outrebounded the Wildcats by two, 37-35 making it the seventh time the team has pulled down more boards than their opponents this season.

Player
Lexi Eaton led all scorers with a game-high 25 points on 7 of 15 shooting. She also grabbed three rebounds before fouling out late in the game.

Jennifer Hamson nearly recorded a triple double, scoring 23 points, pulling down 11 rebounds and tallying a game-best nine blocks.

Kim Beeston tallied double digit scoring for the sixth time this season with 18 points on 6 of 10 shooting while dishing out five assists, which tied for team highs.

Ashley Garfield dished out career bests in assists with five tying for team highs in that category. She also contributed five points and three rebounds before fouling out with seven minutes remaining in the game.

The 11 points scored off the bench by Xojian Harry mark the second time this year that she has put up double digits in scoring.