Beeston’s career afternoon fuels win at LMU

LOS ANGELES – Kim Beeston led BYU women’s basketball to a 91-67 win over Loyola Marymount Saturday on the road.

“Tonight, Kim was feeling it,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “It was probably the best all-around game of her career. The last few weeks everyone has been really consistent offensively and defensively. We can use this win to continue to build on that heading into next week.”

Beeston had a career-high 27 points, including hitting a career-high nine 3-pointers, and a team-high nine assists. Jennifer Hamson had 23 points and a career-high 19 rebounds while Stephanie Rovetti came off the bench to tie her career-high 12 points.

BYU (23-5, 13-4) had 38 points in the paint compared to just 12 for Loyola Marymount (8-19, 5-11). The Cougars outshot the Lions 45 percent to 32 percent from the floor.

Kylie Maeda scored the first bucket of the game with a put-back from an offensive board.

Beeston put the Cougars up by five at 12-7 with her second 3-pointer of the game. That was followed with two additional back-to-back 3-pointers and a Morgan Bailey layup that gave BYU a 22-12 advantage.  

The Lions followed that 8-0 Cougar run with seven-consecutive points of their own to cut BYU’s lead to just three with 9:35 left in the first half. Beeston’s fifth-straight 3-pointer capped off another 8-0 run for the Cougars to go up 30-19 at the under eight timeout.

Beeston then hit a career-high seventh 3-pointer to give BYU a 24 point advantage with 2:09 left before the break.

The Cougars entered the locker room at halftime with a 56-29 lead, matching their largest advantage of the half.

Both sides traded points early to start the second half. After a quick 7-0 run for the Lions, Judkins called his first timeout after the break. Nine more points for Loyola Marymount cut BYU’s lead to 14 at 62-48 with 14:40 left to play.

Beeston hit her ninth 3-pointer with 4:49 left to play to tie All-American Erin Thorn as the only other player in BYU women's history to hit nine shots from beyond-the-arc in a single game.

Hamson contributed eight of the Cougars’ next 10 points before heading to the following media timeout. With 6:29 left to play in the game, she collected her 19th board, a new career high.

BYU ended the game outscoring the Lions 14-7 to give the Cougars a 91-67 road victory.  

The Cougars return home next Saturday for the final regular season game against San Diego. The game will begin at 1 p.m. MST and will be broadcast live on BYUtv. Next Saturday’s game is also senior night. Links to live stats and the video feed can be found on the BYU women’s basketball schedule page.

Postgame Notes

Team
The 56 points scored by the Cougars in the first 20 minutes of action are the most this year in the first half.

The 91 final points the Cougars scored in the win over LMU are the third game the team has scored 90-plus points and the most of the year.

BYU outrebounded LMU 47 to 40 making it the 21st time this year it has pulled down more boards than its opponents. It also got 38 points in the paint compared with 12 for the Lions.

For the 11th time and the second straight, BYU finished the game with four players in double figures. Beeston (27), Hamson (23), Rovetti (12) and Bailey (10).

Player
Kim Beeston had a career afternoon from 27 points and nine treys in the road win at LMU. They nine treys tied BYU’s single game record in 3-pointers made set by All-American Erin Thorn’s on Dec. 14, 2001, against Arkansas Pine-Bluff.  She also had a game-high nine assists, one shy of her career record. Beeston had 21 points going 7 for 7 in the first half to lead all scorers.

Jennifer Hamson was one point away from a double-double in the first half of the game with 10 rebounds and nine points. Thirty seconds into the second half, her two free throws put her into double figures with 11 points for her 19th double-double of the year and the second straight. She finished with 23 points and a game- and career-high 19 rebounds. She also recorded a team-best 2 blocks.

Stephanie Rovetti came off the bench picking up her second double figure outing in points this year with a season-high 12, going 3 for 3 from the free throw line. She also dished out four assists and pulled down two rebounds.

Morgan Bailey picked up her 12th and second straight game scoring in double digits with 10.