Women hoopsters battle Utah State in Logan Monday night

PROVO, Utah —  With a four-game win streak, BYU women’s basketball (7-3) plays one more game before starting conference play. The Cougars take a short trip to Logan to play Utah State (3-7) on Monday, Dec. 22 at 7 p.m. The battle between the Cougars and Aggies can be heard live on BYU Radio, Sirius XM 143.

Utah State is the fourth team from the Mountain West Conference that BYU will play this year. The Cougars own a 3-0 mark against MWC schools entering the matchup with USU.

About BYU
Lexi Eaton, a 5-foot-10 junior guard/forward combo, leads BYU in points with 18.1 per game. She ranks third in rebounds, pulling down 5.9 boards a contest. Morgan Bailey, a 6-foot-2 senior forward, follows with 17.9 points and a team-best 9.2 rebounds per game. She was named WCC Player of the Week on Monday after her performance against in-state foes Weber State and Utah.

After 10 games, the Cougars are scoring 66.8 points per game while shooting 43.5 percent from the field, 71.2 percent at the free-throw line and 36.1 percent from 3-point land. In all games, BYU has dished out more assists than its opponents, has recorded more rebounds in five contests to date and has a 7-0 mark when leading at the break.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78) 14th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #21 L. Eaton, 18.1 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #41 M. Bailey, 9.2 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #15 K. Maeda, 4.4 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #23 M. Morrison, 1.2 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #41, M. Bailey, .50 bpg

About Utah State
Utah State has a 3-7 record to date and will play at Sacramento State on Friday before returning to host the Cougars Monday night in Logan. USU is 3-0 at home to date.

The Aggies return four of the five starters from last year’s squad that compiled a 15-16 record and finished eighth in the Mountain West Conference race with an 8-10 mark. This season, Utah State was picked to finish eighth in the MWC regular season race.

Freshman Funda Nakkasoglu leads the scoring effort for the Aggies, averaging 14.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. Senior center Franny Vaaulu follows, contributing 6.4 points and 5.3 boards a contest. Utah State is averaging 63.4 points a game, while shooting 38.5 from the field, 70.4 from the free-throw line and 27.8 from 3-point range.

• Head coach: Jerry Finkbeiner (Southern Nazarene, 1980) 3rd season
• Team’s leading scorer: #03 F. Nakkasoglu, 14.9 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #02 E. Nelson, 5.9 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #03 F. Nakkasoglu, 4.1 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #44 F. Vaaulu, 1.4 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #40 H. Hutchins, 1.0 bpg

Series History
BYU leads the overall series 32-3. When playing at the Spectrum, BYU has a 13-2 record. The last time the Cougars played and won in Logan was on Dec. 17, 2011, when they picked up the 73-65 victory.

Last Meeting
The two in-state foes played last year in Provo, where the Cougars recorded the 84-74 win on Dec. 21. Jennifer Hamson led the team with 24 points and12 rebounds. Kim Beeston followed with 22 points, shooting 5 of 9 from the 3-point line.

Hamson scored 11 points in the first half, while Beeston drained three 3-pointers in the first ten minutes of the game. She totaled 15 points at the break.

With 1:30 left in the first half, the Aggies tied the game at 37-37. Beeston made it to the line twice, and Stephanie Rovetti once to help the Cougars regain the lead. In the final seconds of the first half, Makenzi Morrison hit her second 3-pointer of the game to give BYU a 46-41 advantage at intermission.

The Aggies worked to earn their points back at the start of the second half, tying the game at 47-47. The Cougars then went on a 10-1 run. Lexi Eaton and Beeston each hit a three and Ashley Garfield played aggressively to make it to the line and keep the ball in BYU hands. Garfield earned a career-high seven assists with a season-high 15 rebounds.

Franny Vaaulu and Elise Nelson of Utah State fouled out with less than 10 minutes to go. The Aggie offense worked hard to break the Cougars defense and closed the gap to 68-65 with five minutes remaining on the clock.

Kylie Maeda nailed the coffin in the final minute with a hard drive down the lane for a jumper and two points at the line to end the game 84-74.

Up Next
With the game at USU, the Cougar women complete their nonconference portion of the 2014-15 campaign. The West Coast Conference regular season starts on the road for BYU, as they open up league play at Gonzaga on Dec. 27 and at Portland on Dec. 29.

The team’s first two home conference game follow, with the Cougars hosting Santa Clara on New Year’s Day at 12:30 p.m., followed by a Saturday game vs. San Francisco on Jan. 3 at 2 p.m. Both league games will air live on BYUtv and will be simulcast on BYU Radio.