A home win Thursday gives Cougars WCC outright regular season title

BYU Game Notes

San Diego Game Notes

PROVO, Utah—Heading into the final two weeks of West Coast Conference action, the Cougar women (22-4, 14-1) have already clinched at least a share of the WCC regular season crown.

BYU plays its final home WCC game this Thursday, Feb. 18, when San Diego (21-5, 11-4) comes to the Marriott Center for a 7 p.m. MST tip. A win over USD would give the Cougars their first outright WCC regular-season crown. Seniors Kylie Maeda and Lexi Eaton Rydalch will be recognized.

The Toreros are the only team that BYU has lost to in conference play. They went on a 14-game win streak since the setback in San Diego back in December. The Cougars and Toreros game can be seen live on BYUtv.

BYU at a Glance
BYU’s second all-time leading scorer and the WCC’s all-time leading scorer, senior guard Lexi Eaton Rydalch is one of three BYU players putting up double figures in points with a team-best 24.3 points. She ranks second on the team in rebounds, pulling down 5.8 boards a game. Junior Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher follows contributing 13.0 points to the Cougars’ offensive threat. All-American Kalani Purcell, a JC transfer from Hutchinson Community College and Hamilton, New Zealand, rounds out the scoring with her 11.5 points, and with a team best 12.7 rebounds is averaging a double-double. Purcell tops the league in rebounds and in assists while Rydalch leads the way in scoring.

The Cougars are scoring 69.1 points and grabbing 38.6 rebounds while shooting 41.6 percent from the field, 69.3 percent from the free throw line and 36.2 percent from 3-point range. BYU is holding opponents to 60.9 points per game.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78) 15th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #21 L. Eaton Rydalch, 24.3 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #32 K. Purcell, 12.7 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #32 K. Purcell, 4.9 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #23 M. Pulsipher, 2.3 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #32, K. Purcell, .92 bpg

SAN DIEGO at a Glance
The San Diego Toreros are 21-5, 11-4 on the year and have a 5-1 record when playing in road league games. In last week’s WCC schedule, they beat USF and lost to SCU in San Diego.

Sisters Malina and Maya Hood lead San Diego scoring averaging 18.5 and 14.2 points per game, respectively. Maya Hood ranks first in the rebound category pulling down 9.3 boards a contest. 

The Toreros are scoring 69.5 points per game while shooting 42.5 percent from the field, 73.7 percent from the free throw line and 30.4 percent from behind the arc. They are holding opponents to just 58.4 points a game.

• Head coach: Cindy Fisher, ninth season
• Team’s leading scorer: #11 Malina Hood, 18.5 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #22 Maya Hood, 9.3 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #32 C. Woodward, 4.3 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #11 Maya Hood, 2.6 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #11 Malina Hood, .73 bpg

Series History
BYU leads the series 8-3 over USD. The Toreros have never won in Provo in the history of the series.

Last Time
These two conference foes played their first WCC game on Dec. 23 in San Diego with the homestanding Toreros recording the 78-65 victory.

In the loss, Kalani Purcell picked up a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Lexi Eaton Rydalch led all scorers with 23 points and six rebounds. Makenzi Morrison Pulsipher also tallied double digits in points with 11. The Cougars had the advantage in the assists category, 13 to 10, in blocks, 7 to 4 and in steals with five more than the Toreros, 10 to 5. BYU shot 42 percent from the field and 66 percent at the charity stripe.

San Diego had two players tally double-doubles with Maya Hood’s 17 points and game-high 18 rebounds with sister Malina Hood also putting up 17 points while grabbing 11 boards. Sydney Williams and Katherine Hamilton also scored in double digits with 17 and 11, respectively. For the game, the Toreros shot 45 percent from the field and 72 percent from the free throw line. They had nearly double the rebounds than the Cougars with 47 to BYU’s 29.

Coming Up
After Thursday’s game vs. San Diego, BYU women’s basketball takes its final WCC road trip with games at Portland and at Gonzaga next Thursday and Saturday.