Final road trip in WCC play

PROVO, Utah—Riding a five-game winning streak including a 10-point 62-52 upset victory over No. 15 Gonzaga, BYU women’s basketball (21-5, 11-4) is in second place in the West Coast Conference standings. The team heads to southern California this week for its final road trip in league action.

The Cougars head to Malibu to battle Pepperdine (5-20, 1-13) Thursday at 7 p.m. PST. Live stats and video streaming will be available for the game. Links can be found on the byucougars.com website.

About BYU
Leading the way in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots for BYU is senior center Jennifer Hamson, averaging 18.3 points, 11.1 rebounds and 4.3 blocks per game. She leads the nation in blocked shots, ranks 12th in double-doubles, 16th in rebounds per game and 21st in field goal percentage.

Three other Cougar players are recording double figures in points, with Lexi Eaton putting up 17.0 followed by 10.9 points from Kim Beeston. Junior forward Morgan Bailey rounds out the scoring output, contributing 10.1 points. She is in second place in rebounds pulling down 7.1 per contest.

BYU is averaging 71.7 points per game, while holding opponents to 64.2 points. The Cougars, who rank fifth in the country in blocked shots per game, have recorded more blocks than opponents in 23 games and have dished out more assists in 20 of the 26 games played to date. The team has also recorded more rebounds than opponents in 19 contests.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78) 13th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #5 Hamson, 18.3 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #5 Hamson, 11.1 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #4 Beeston, 3.7 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #4 Beeston, 1.2 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #5 Hamson, 4.3 bpg

About Pepperdine
Pepperdine University (5-20, 1-13) enters the second to last week of WCC action in last place in the most recent league standings.

The Waves have four players scoring in double digits, led by 16.9 points from Bria Richardson. She’s followed by Keitra Wallace who puts in 12.5 points with teammate Allie Green chipping in 12.2. Rounding out the scoring output for Pepperdine is Ea Shoushtari who contributes 10.7 points, while pulling down a team-best 7.1 rebounds per game. The Waves are averaging 64.9 points per game and are grabbing 37.6 rebounds per contest.

Head coach: Ryan Weisenberg (Cal Poly, ‘97) 1st season
• Team’s leading scorer: #10 Bria Richardson, 16.9 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #11 Ea Shoushtari, 7.1 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #10 B. Richardson, 3.6 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #10 B. Richardson, 2.6 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #44 Kelsey Brockway, 0.6 bpg

Series History
BYU leads the overall series 6-2. When playing in Malibu, the Cougars are 1-2. 

Last Meeting
In BYU’s 65-50 home win over Pepperdine on Dec. 30, freshman Makenzi Morrison came off the bench with nine points to spark the win. She also added career-highs in rebounds (2) and assists (3). The Cougars trailed the Waves until a breakaway layup by Morrison put BYU ahead 31-30 with 3:14 left to play in the first half.

Lexi Eaton led all BYU scorers with 18 points, 16 of which came in the second half of play. Eaton scored nine of 11 points during an 11-0 run that saw BYU go from a five-point lead to a 17-point lead.

Senior Kim Beeston tallied eight points for the Cougars, becoming the 25th BYU player to join the 1,000-point club. 

Up Next
After Thursday night’s game at Pepperdine, the Cougar women remain in the Los Angeles area, taking on Loyola Marymount on Sat., at 2 p.m. PST, from Gersten Pavilion. The game vs. the Lions can be heard live on BYU Radio.

The following week the Cougars return home for the final game in the 2014 WCC schedule. BYU hosts San Diego, Sat. Mar.1 at 1 p.m. The team’s two seniors, Kim Beeston and Jennifer Hamson will be recognized. The game vs. the Toreros will air live on BYUtv.