Cougars top Tigers for first place in WCC

Box Score

STOCKTON, Calif. — Behind a new career-high 38 points, Lexi Eaton Rydalch led the Cougars to a 67-57 victory against the Tigers and sole possession of first place in the West Coast Conference, Thursday night. The points propelled Rydalch to second place all-time in scoring at BYU.

"This was a great game by Lexi," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "She really carried us tonight. Our zone made a difference in the game and the play from our two guards, Kylie and Makenzi was awesome."

Rydalch led all scorers with a career and game-high 38 points to go along with seven rebounds, four assists and tied a career- and game-high four steals. Rydalch now has a total of 2,310 points in her career as a Cougar, passing Tresa Spaulding Hamson who now holds third place at 2,309.

Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher scored 16 points for BYU, going 3 for 7 from behind the arc and 6 for 11 from the field. Pulsipher also grabbed two rebounds, dished out three assists and tallied three steals. Junior All-American transfer Kalani Purcell finished the game with four points, a team-high 10 rebounds and a game-high six assists.

BYU (19-4, 11-1) finished the contest shooting 48.1 percent from the field to Pacific’s (10-12, 3-8) 34.4. The Cougars pulled down 32 team rebounds to the Tigers’ 37, and BYU dished out 16 assists to Pacific’s 11.

Close all the way to the end, the Cougars pulled out their 11th conference win and 11th straight win. BYU took a 50-36 lead heading into the final period, but Pacific made a run midway through the fourth cutting the Cougar lead to four, 56-52, with 3:18 to go.

BYU was able to hold on to the lead as Rydalch scored on the next two BYU possessions to give the Cougars the 60-52 lead with just over two minutes to play. Pacific then made one of two free throws to cut the Cougar lead to seven, 60-53, but on the next play Pulsipher converted her third trey of the game to give the Cougars a sufficient 10-point lead with a minute and a half to play.

The Cougars started the game on a 4-0 run powered by two fast break layups by Rydalch and Pulsipher. At the 6:27 mark, the Tigers took their first lead of the game, 6-5, on a short-range jumper by Emily Simons. Pacific extended its lead to six, 11-5, as the Tigers continued their 9-0 run midway through the first period.

BYU then switched to a 2-3 zone, and Rydalch scored five quick points in response to Pacific’s run to make the score 11-10 in BYU’s favor with 2:32 to go in the period. The Cougar senior scored seven of the team's first 10 points. Heading into the second period of play, the score was tied at 13-all.

BYU opened the second period taking the 18-17 lead after five straight points from Kylie Maeda. Rydalch then extended the Cougar lead to four, 23-19, converting her second 3-point field goal of the contest.

With 1:50 to go in the half, Pacific retook the lead, 24-23, on a baseline jumper by Simons. On the next possession, Amanda Wayment put the Cougars back on top, 25-24. BYU took the one point lead, 27-26, into halftime.

Rydalch led all scorers with 16 points in the first 20 minutes of action. Kalani Purcell, who was burdened with fouls throughout the first half, pulled down a team-high four rebounds.

A minute into the third period, Rydalch hit her third 3-pointer of the game to give BYU the 30-26 lead. BYU captured its largest lead of the game, 36-30, on a fast break layup by Rydalch on the next Cougar offensive play. Pulsipher then increased the Cougar lead to 10, 40-30, scoring four points in one possession as she converted the 3-pointer, got fouled and made the free throw.

The Cougars began to pull away going on an 11-0 run driven by Rydalch’s fourth 3-point field goal of the night with 3:45 to go in the third. BYU continued its run as Pulsipher hit back-to-back jumpers to give the Cougars the 48-32 lead with a minute to go. BYU outscored Pacific 23 to 10 in the third 10 minutes of action.

Midway through the fourth period, the Tigers went on a 7-0 run, cutting into the BYU lead. At the 4:50 mark, the Tigers cut the Cougar lead to nine, 56-47, as Pacific’s Desire Finnie finished a layup in the paint.

The Tigers fought their way back making the score 56-49 with 3:51 to go. On the next possession, Pacific continued to claw back cutting the Cougar lead to four, 56-52, with under three minutes to play. Rydalch helped BYU hold on to its lead as she scored four straight points to increase BYU’s lead to eight, 60-52.

On the next possession, the Cougars worked into the final seconds of the shot clock and Maeda found Pulsipher on the wing for her third 3-pointer in the game to put BYU up 10, 63-53.

BYU will travel to Moraga, California to take on Saint Mary’s, Saturday. Teams will tip off at 2 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast on TheW.tv. Links to live streaming and stats can be found on the BYU women’s basketball schedule page.

Postgame Notes

Team

BYU took a one-point, 27-26 advantage at the break and picked up the 67-57 road win over Pacific, improving its record to 19-4, 11-1 on the year. With the loss by San Diego at Saint Mary’s, the Cougars are all alone in first place in the West Coast Conference standings.

In the win over the Tigers, BYU shot 48 percent from the field and 69 percent at the free throw line. From 3-point range, they shot 47 percent, going 8 of 17.

The Cougars had eight steals heading into the break while the Tigers had six. For the game, BYU finished with 10. Pacific had nine.

BYU had 15 rebounds to Pacific’s 14 in the first half. The Tigers ended the contest with the advantage with 37 boards compared with 32 for the Cougars.

Pacific had one more assist over BYU in the first half, seven to six. The Cougars finished the game with the edge in assists, dishing out 16 to the Tigers 11.

Player

Lexi Eaton Rydalch led all scorers through the first half of action with 16 points. She had four rebounds, three assists and three steals. For the game, she totaled a game-high 38 points, which puts her second all-time in scoring at BYU. She surpassed Tresa Spaulding Hamson’s 2,309 career points with 2,310. Rydalch also had seven rebounds, four assists and recorded game highs in blocks with three and in steals with four. She was also perfect at the free throw line, 6 of 6.

Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher recorded her 15th game scoring in double figures with 16. She also had three rebounds, three steals and two rebounds.

Kalani Purcell had pulled down four rebounds in the first half and finished the game with 10 total boards for team bests. She also had a game-high six assists, one steal and one block. Purcell contributed four points in the win.