Chase helps BYU blow past Santa Clara, 55-34

BYU at Santa Clara Box Score

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Brenna Chase scored a career-high 25 points as BYU women's basketball cruised to a 55-34 win over Santa Clara at the Leavey Event Center Thursday night.

"We had a great defensive effort tonight, especially holding a team on its floor to just 34 points," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "Brenna had a great game tonight. Not just offensively, but defensively as well."

Chase scored 17 in the second half and made 5 of 9 3-pointers on the game. Cassie Broadhead Devashrayee and Sara Hamson each scored 10 points. The Cougars (14-10, 9-4 West Coast Conference) scored 22 points off turnovers and held the Broncos (7-17, 3-10) to 20 percent shooting.

The game got off to a slow offensive start, as the Cougars led just 9-7 after the first quarter. A few minutes into the second quarter, Devashrayee knocked down a 3 to put BYU up 16-9 and force a Bronco timeout. Out of the timeout, Chase buried a 3 for a 10-point Cougar lead.

A Paisley Johnson free throw capped a 9-0 run for BYU as it led 22-9 with 2:39 left in the first half.

BYU took a 26-12 advantage into the locker room after outscoring Santa Clara 17-5 in the second quarter. Chase and Hamson led the Cougars with eight points apiece. Devashrayee had seven.

After leading 31-15, BYU allowed the Broncos to go on a 7-2 run. Malia Nawahine made a 3-pointer with 2:34 left in the quarter to make it 36-22 for the Cougars. A minute later, Shalae Salmon gave BYU its biggest lead up to that point with a lay-in that made it 40-22.

Four minutes into the final quarter, Chase knocked down a long 3 to give the Cougars their first 20-point lead at 45-25. The duo of Chase and Devashrayee made four-straight field goals as BYU extended its lead to 52-28 with under five minutes to play.

From then on, the Cougars maintained a lead of at least 20 points and came out with the 55-34 win.

The Cougars stay in Northern California to take on San Francisco on Saturday at 2 p.m. PST. The game will be streamed on TheW.tv.

BYU at Santa Clara Postgame Notes

Team Notes

BYU took a 14-point, 26-12 lead at the break. With the 55-34 victory, the Cougars improved to 12-0 when leading at the half. The road win for BYU improves the team’s record to 14-10, 9-4 on the season.

The Cougars pulled down 22 rebounds in the first half of play while the Broncos grabbed 20. SCU finished the league contest with 36 rebounds compared with 32 for the Cougars.

BYU had the advantage in assists through the first half of play with six compared with three for SCU. The Cougars finished with 13 assists to the Broncos 10.

For the seventh time on the year and the second-straight, three players finished scoring in double figures for the Cougars. Brenna Chase (25), Sara Hamson (10), Cassie Devashrayee (10).

Player Notes

Brenna Chase scored eight points in the first half along with two rebounds and one steal.  She finished with a career-high 25 points. The points are her fourth game with 20-plus points. Her previous high of 23 points she recorded in the home win vs. the Broncos on Jan. 13. Chase also recorded a game-high five steals along with four rebounds, one assist and one block.

Sara Hamson had a first-half high four blocks to go along with eight points and five rebounds. She ended the game with her fourth game with double-digit points and the second straight with 10 points. Hamson recorded five blocks in the win over the Broncos, which is one more than the entire SCU team. She also pulled down six rebounds.

Cassie Devashrayee picked up her 24th straight game with double digit scoring with 10 points. She also had a game-high four assists.

Malia Nawahine had the most rebounds in the first half for BYU with seven. She also had two assists. Her total of eight rebounds in the game were team bests. She also tallied five points, three assists and one steal.