Bailey, Morrison lead Cougar women to fourth win in Spain

BARCELONA, Spain -- Playing for an undefeated trip in Spain, the Cougar women easily reached their goal with a 66-49 win over Femini Sant Adria Club Monday in Barcelona.

The Cougar women spent the last 10 days touring and playing four games in Madrid, San Sebastian, Bilbao and Barcelona.

Blog #10 has the day's activities and player game summary

Morgan Bailey and Makenzi Morrison led the way for the Cougars with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Bailey also pulled down two rebounds, dished out two assists and had two steals. Morrison grabbed two rebounds and had two steals.

“This was a nice win for us to finish our tour through Spain,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “Morgan had a great trip for us - dominating inside and with her scoring. Ashley had a nice game today, especially offensively. Kylie probably played her best game for us today, especially in the first half."

The Cougars got off to another quick start and enjoyed an 8-0 lead with 7:30 showing on the clock in the first 10-minute quarter. FSA did not get on the scoreboard until the 6:40 mark on a basket from Marta Claret. BYU would continue to add to its lead, up 14-2 with 4:26 on a Bailey basket. FSA’s Cris Hurtado would score the team’s next two points at 3:05 for a 10 point, 14-4 Cougar lead.

A foul by Alohi Robins-Hardy would give Mireia Casanova a 3-point play and FSA found itself down by just seven, 14-7, with two minutes remaining. With 1:15 left, a BYU foul sent Casanova to the line where she made the first, missed the second, got her own rebound and kicked it out to Andrea Cobo for a three, and FSA was back in the game, down by just five, 16-11. BYU finished the quarter ahead 18-13 on back-to-back baskets by Xojian Harry. FSA had the ball in the closing seconds, but it could not get on the scoreboard.

It was all BYU in the second 10-minute quarter as it held FSA scoreless for the majority of the quarter, allowing them to score just five points. The Cougars slowly pulled away, building a 15-point, 28-13, advantage with 3:45 left before the halftime break. Freshman Amanda Wayment rebounded a missed attempt by teammate Eaton, and was wide open for an easy two. She finished the game pulling down five rebounds, had one assist and three steals. A minute later, Savannah Irwin would get on the scoreboard. After missing her first attempt, she got her own rebound and scored to give BYU a 34-13 lead.

On the Cougars next time down the court, Ashley Garfield saw an open Irwin and dished it out to her for her second bucket of the game. Irwin finished with five points and three rebounds. With 1:40 left, FSA’s Helena Lopez got her team on the scoreboard finding herself open from 3-point range. Makenzi Morrison was fouled the next time down the court and made both free throws to give the Cougars a 36-16 lead. They would have a 38-16 lead from an easy layup by Garfield after a missed shot by FSA. With 57 seconds before the break, BYU sent FSA’s Angel Farre to the free throw line where she would get her team’s final points of the quarter, down by 22, 40-18. 

FSA started the third quarter with a barrage of treys, picking up 12 of its 14 points from 3-point range. Despite the points, FSA still found itself down by 20, 52-32, with just over four minutes left in the quarter when Bailey scored her final points of the game off a pass underneath from Maddy Ziering-Smith. At the end of the third quarter, BYU was up 53-40 with one 10-minute quarter remaining.

Another scoring slump from FSA and the Cougars had the game in hand in the fourth quarter. The final 10 minutes belonged to Morrison who scored nine of BYU’s 13 points. Morrison made the only 3-pointer by the Cougars two minutes into the quarter. She would score BYU’s next six points, finishing the game with 11, two rebounds and two assists. Micaelee Orton also scored in the final quarter, making the team’s final basket of the game with 4:30 left.

For the game, the Cougars had the edge in the rebound category, pulling down 35 to FSA’s 28 and in assists with 13 to 12. The FSA team got the advantage in steals with five compared with just two for BYU.

“We played great competition while on our tour, playing three very good teams who had very different styles of play,” Judkins added. “Our team did some really good things and they were able to deal with the heat and different lineups. I think this team has great chemistry and it was an especially beneficial trip for our freshmen.”

BYU returns to the United States Tuesday night. They open up the 2014-15 campaign with two exhibition games on Nov. 1 and Nov. 7. The team’s first nonconference contest is at South Dakota State on Nov. 14 and its home opener is on Nov. 19 vs. Cal State Northridge.