Next league road game is at Pacific

In their first of four West Coast Conference road games, the Cougar women (16-5, 6-4) dropped a hard fought 70-75 contest to Saint Mary’s in Moraga, Thursday.

BYU remains in northern California traveling to Stockton to battle newcomer Pacific (11-9, 6-5) on Saturday at 2 p.m. PST. The game will be seen live on TheW.tv. and can be heard live on BYU Radio. The Cougars and Tigers are tied in fourth place in the league standings following Thursday night’s action.

About BYU
Senior center Jennifer Hamson continues to lead the Cougar team in points and in rebounds with 16.9 ppg and 10.4 rpg. Two other teammates are also scoring in double digits with Lexi Eaton contributing 16.0 points and 4.1 boards and Kim Beeston averaging 11.7 points and a team-best 3.6 assists per game.

As a team, BYU is averaging 70.3 points per game and is holding opponents to 64.8 points. The Cougars have recorded more blocks than opponents in 18 games and have dished out more assists in 16 of the 21 games played to date. They have also recorded more rebounds in 16 contests.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78) enters his 13th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #5 Hamson, 16.9 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #5 Hamson, 10.4 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #4 Beeston, 3.6 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #4 Beeston, 1.2 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #5 Hamson, 4.0 bpg

About Pacific
Pacific has compiled an 11-9, 6-4 and is on a three-game home winning streak, most recently defeating San Diego 80-70 Thursday night.

The Tigers have three players scoring in double digits led by 17.5 points from Kendall Kenyon. She’s followed by Kiki Moore who puts in 15.6 points. Teammate Madison Parrish rounds out the double figure scoring with 10.6 points.

Pacific averages 76.4 points per game and pulls down 39.9 rebounds per contest. They are holding opponents to scoring 71.4 points per contest.

• Head coach: Lynne Roberts (Seattle Pacific, 2000) 8th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #10 Kenyon, 17.5 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #10 Kenyon, 11.0 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #24 Moore, 4.9 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #24 Moore, 2.8 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #10 Kenyon, 1.5 bpg

Series History
BYU leads the series 5-2. When playing in Stockton, the Cougars are 2-0. The last time they played at Alex G. Spanos Center was on Dec. 1, 1997 where BYU picked up the 57-48 win.

Last Meeting
BYU dropped its first game in West Coast Conference play to Pacific in Provo, on Jan. 2, 75-62. The Tigers hit 13 3-pointers compared to just one for the Cougars as BYU fell to 12-2, 2-1 on the year.

Ashley Garfield had seven rebounds in the first 10 minutes of play – more than the entire Pacific team. She finished tying her season-high 15 boards to go along with seven points and a team-high four assists. Jennifer Hamson scored BYU’s first 15 of 17 points in the second half before leaving the court with an injured nose. She ended with a team-high 22 points on the night.

The Cougars won the battle in the paint scoring 32 points compared with 18 for Pacific, but the Tigers had fewer turnovers, 14 and they capitalized on BYU miscues, getting 19 points from the Cougars 21 turnovers. In the rebound category, BYU pulled down more rebounds 38 to 29 and also had four blocks compared with two for the Tigers.

What’s Next
After the game at Pacific, BYU will round out its four-game road swing with games at Santa Clara and at San Francisco on Feb. 6 and Feb. 8. The team will return to the Marriott Center to host Portland and Gonzaga on Feb. 13 and Feb. 15.