Cougars top Wildcats in 17-point victory

Final Box Score

OGDEN, Utah — Lexi Eaton Rydalch recorded her 10th double figure performance in 10 games to give BYU women’s basketball the 68–51 victory over Weber State, Thursday, at the Dee Events Center.

"We got a good win tonight," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said.  "We started the game strong. When we move the ball well offensively we are a hard team to beat. Scoring 23 points in the third period was key to this victory."

BYU (7-3) finished the event shooting 50.9 percent from the field for its best outing of the year thus far, and shot a season-high 66.7 percent from behind the arc. The Cougars outrebounded the Wildcats (6-2) 41 to 24 in the game, while BYU scored nine points off of second chance opportunities.

Rydalch finished the contest with a game-high 25 points, adding nine rebounds, one steal and one assist. Kylie Maeda and Jasmine Moody also finished the game in double-figures with a season-high 10 points for Maeda and a career-high 11 for Moody. Amanda Wayment ended the game tying her career-high with eight points and pulling down a career-high 10 rebounds.

The Cougars began the game on an 11-2 run behind seven early points from Maeda to go up nine on the Wildcats. BYU started the game shooting 5 for 9 from the field. At the 2:35 mark, Rydalch extended BYU’s lead to 10 on a fast break layup. With 75 seconds to go in the first period, Weber State cut the Cougars’ lead to five, 17-12, on a 3-pointer by Emily Drake.

Maeda led all scorers through the first ten minutes of play with a game-high seven points, going 3 for 3 from the field, while Kalani Purcell added a jumper, four rebounds and three assists.

BYU opened the second period on a layup by Wayment to bring the Cougar lead back to seven, 19-12. Weber State then went on an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the game, 20-19, which was fueled by a four-point play by Deeshyra Thomas. Rydalch, plagued by three early personal fouls, went to the bench midway through the second period after fouling Thomas on the 3-point field goal.

Teams traded baskets throughout the remainder of the second period with BYU leading 30-26 going into the half. Eighteen of BYU’s 30 first half points came in the paint to Weber State’s eight. The Cougars shot 51.9 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes of action with Maeda leading all scorers with ten, shooting 2 for 2 from the behind the arc. Purcell contributed six points, six rebounds and three assists.

The Cougars came out of the half strong as they went on a 7-2 run in the first minute behind five points from Rydalch and a long jumper from Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher to extend the score to 37-28 in BYU’s favor. At the 6:28 mark, Rydalch scored her seventh point of the period on a pull up floater, giving BYU the 42-32 advantage. Weber State then cut the Cougars lead to six with 4:43 to go in the period. Through the first six minutes of the third period, the Cougars and the Wildcats shot well over 50.0 percent from the field, with both teams shooting 6 for 9 from the field.

With 3:09 to go in the third 10-minute period of action, Moody battled in the post to give her a new career-high of 11 points. Rydalch increased the BYU lead to 11 on a corner jumper from behind the arc sending the Cougars into the fourth period up 53-42.

The Wildcats started the fourth period with a run of their own, cutting the BYU lead to five, 53-48. Rydalch put the Cougars back up 12, 62-50 with 5:22 to go in the game to give her a game-high 23 points. Pulsipher then hit a 3-pointer, her first of the game, to give BYU a 15-point lead, 65-50, which proved to be large enough for the Cougars to clinch the victory.

BYU women’s basketball will return to the Marriott Center this Saturday after five games on the road to host in-state rival the University of Utah. Teams will tip off at 2 p.m. MST. The game will be broadcast on BYUtv. Links to live stats and streamed audio for the game can be found on the BYU women’s schedule page.

Postgame Notes

Team

With the 68-51 win over Weber State, BYU improved its record to 7-3 and is on a five-game winning streak.

In the first half, BYU had pulled down 17 rebounds to Weber State’s 12. At the conclusion of the game, the Cougars finished with 41 total boards. The Wildcats pulled down 24 rebounds.

The Cougars had the advantage in assists with eight to six after the first two periods of action. They finished with 16 total assists compared with 10 for Weber State.

Both teams were even in the steals category through two periods with five each. For the game, BYU had six and Weber State had nine.

For the sixth time on the year at least three players finished with double digits in points. Rydalch (25), Moody (11) and Maeda (10).

In the win over the Wildcats, the Cougars shot their best field goal percentage of the year, .509 (29-57) and their best 3-point field goal percentage, .667 (6-9).

Player

Kylie Maeda

Kylie Maeda started the game scoring seven of the first nine points for BYU, tying her season high in that category. By halftime, Maeda had a team-best 10 while shooting 4 for 4 from the field. The points mark her first game with double figures this season. She finished the game with 10 points, two rebounds and four assists.

Kalani Purcell

Kalani Purcell had the most rebounds with six in the first half of action. She also had tallied six points and had a team-best three assists.  For the game, she had grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, six points and a game-best five assists.

Jasmine Moody

Jasmine Moody recorded her first game with double digits in points with a career-best 11 points. She also grabbed four rebounds.

Lexi Eaton Rydalch

Lexi Eaton Rydalch finished with a game-best 25 points for her sixth game with 20-plus points. She also had a near double-double from nine rebounds.

Amanda Wayment

Before fouling out, Amanda Wayment had pulled down a season- and career-high 10 rebounds. She also contributed eight points, one assist and one steal in the winning effort.