BYU drops physical battle with Pacific

PROVO, Utah – Jennifer Hamson had a big second half, but it wasn’t enough as BYU fell 75-62 to Pacific in the Marriott Center Thursday night.

Hamson scored 22 points and 15 of the first 17 points in the second half for BYU (12-2, 2-1) before leaving the game with a possible broken nose. Ashley Garfield protected the glass for the Cougars by tying her season high of 15 rebounds, including eight offensive rebounds, while scoring seven points to go along with a team-high four assists.

BYU shot 47.8 percent from the field while holding Pacific (6-7, 1-2) to 44.2 percent. The difference came from 3-point range as the Tigers went 13-27 (.481) while the Cougars were held to 1-11 (.091) from deep.

"You have got to give Pacific a lot of credit, they really played well tonight," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "They shot lights out, they hit 13 three pointers and 60 percent from the 3-point line in the first half and that really hurt. I thought we came back and got it down to four and had a couple opportunities to make a stop but they hit a 3-pointer as the shot clock ran out and that was probably the biggest shot of the game. But we just didn't come out ready to play tonight. We need to come out and play with better intensity than we did if we want to win in this league."

Like Pepperdine earlier in the week, Pacific got off to a hot start behind the 3-point line going 4-for-5 to get out to a 16-8 advantage with 14 minutes left in the half, a lead they would not relinquish. The Cougars would close the gap on an 8-1 run to pull within one at 17-16. Ashley Garfield keyed the run with strong play in the paint scoring four points and pulling down four rebounds.

Pacific then went on a 10-4 run to push the lead back to seven at 27-20 with 5:23 left in the half. The Cougars answered with a 6-0 run of their own to close back within one at 27-26. The Tigers then closed the half on an 11-3 run to take the 38-29 lead into the break.

Even though BYU outshot Pacific from the field 48 percent to 45 percent in the first half, the Tigers did most of their damage from behind the arc going 9-15 (.600) while the Cougars missed all four of their 3-pointers.

Pacific started the second half in a similar fashion hitting the first two shots of the half to push the lead to 14 at 43-29. BYU closed the gap to single digits on a 13-3 run to put the score at 46-42 with 9:38 left to play. Hamson scored 11 points and the first nine points of the half for BYU during the run.

Pacific found their stroke again behind the arc to spark a 13-4 run to retake a double-digit lead at 59-46 with 5:47 left in the game. The teams traded points for the remainder of the game.

BYU will return to action for its third home game of the week Saturday against Saint Mary’s at 2 p.m. MST in the Marriott Center. The game will be broadcast live on BYUtv.

Postgame Notes

Team

Pacific started the game going 4 of 5 from the 3-point line to take an early eight-point lead at 16-8. BYU then went on an 8-1 run to bring the Cougars within one at 17-16.

The Tigers hit a last-second 3-pointer at the break to take a nine-point advantage, 38-29.

At halftime the Cougars outrebounded the Tigers 21-12 and finished ahead in the category 38-26. Pacific shot 60 percent from 3-point range on their way to 48.1 percent (13-27).

BYU’s largest lead of the game came at 5-3 with 17:47 left in the first 20 minutes. Pacific’s largest lead was 14 at four separate times in the second half.

The Cougars went on a 13-3 run in the second half to pull within four at 46-42. It was the closest the Cougars were able to get for the rest of the game.

Pacific led the game overall in points off turnovers, 19-11. The Tigers also had less turnovers, winning that category 14-21. BYU had 32 points in the paint compared to just 18 for Pacific.

Player

Ashley Garfield had seven rebounds in the first 10 minutes of play – more than the entire Tiger team. She finished the game tying her season-high 15 boards to go along with seven points and a team-high four assists.

Kim Beeston led all scorers at halftime with 12, while Jennifer Hamson had seven at the break for the Cougars. Beeston finished the game with 15 points and a team-high four assists.  

Hamson scored the first nine and first 15 of 17 points in the second half for BYU before leaving with an injury. She finished the game with 22 points, six boards and three blocks.