BYU falls 67-64 to Southern Utah

CEDAR CITY, Utah – Despite being up by two, 64-62, with 37 seconds left on the clock, critical turnovers and fouls handed BYU women's basketball its second loss of the season, falling 67-64 to Southern Utah Tuesday. 

Final Box Score for BYU vs. SUU 

"We missed too many open looks tonight and we didn’t defend like we should," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "We had way too many turnovers and the low score in that third quarter hurt us as well."

Four Cougars scored in double figures, led by Brenna Chase with 14. Chase also added two steals to her line. Shaylee Gonzales had 13 points, and led the team in rebounds and assists with six apiece. Paisley Johnson added 11 points, five rebounds and four assists, while Shalae Salmon had 10 points and five boards.

The game remained even early, but the Cougars took a three-point lead, 10-7, off a layup from Chase with three minutes left in the first quarter. Babalu Ugwu came into the game and scored a quick five points to put the Cougars up by five, 17-12, to end the first quarter. Six different Cougars scored in the opening period, on 50 percent shooting from the field.

The Thunderbirds fired back with two consecutive 3-pointers to take a 20-19 lead early in the second quarter. Malli Valgardson hit the Cougars’ first 3-pointer just seconds later to retake the lead, 24-22, midway through the period. Sara Hamson got a block on one end and Chase hit her first three of the game to take the largest BYU lead, 29-22. With under a minute remaining the half, Salmon hit a pair of free throws to put the Cougars up by double digits for the first time, 35-24, a lead they would carry into the half.

Chase led the team with nine points at the half, Gonzales and Salmon added five rebounds apiece and Hamson had a game and season-high four blocks. The Cougars’ shooting efficiency and advantage in rebounding helped them to the double-digit halftime lead. BYU shot 43 percent compared to SUU’s 26 and outrebounded the Thunderbirds 26-17 through 20 minutes.

SUU used a 9-0 run to bring them within one, 37-36, midway through the third quarter. Coming out of a timeout, the Thunderbirds continued their run with another jumper to take the lead, 38-37, with four minutes left in the third. The run extended to 13 straight points before Maria Albiero hit a free throw to give the Cougars their first point in over five minutes.

Gonzales hit a layup to give BYU its first field goal in over seven minutes, and then hit a free throw to bring them within one, 45-44, in the final seconds of the third quarter. The Thunderbirds outscored the Cougars 23-9 in the third quarter, the largest deficit in a quarter for BYU this season.

Chase hit her second 3-pointer of the night to put her in double digits with 12 early in the final quarter. Gonzales joined her just seconds later with 10 points on a layup. A Thunderbird 3-pointer gave them their first double-digit lead of the night, 59-49, four minutes into the fourth, but another layup from Gonzales and a jumper from Chase brought the Cougars back within six midway through the final period.

A layup from Salmon extended the BYU run to 6-0, and narrowed the lead to just four, with five minutes left in the game. She then hit double digits with 10 points on a layup to tie the game at 61 with two minutes remaining. Johnson reached double digits with 11 on her first 3-pointer of the game to give BYU its first lead of the fourth quarter, 64-62, with 32 seconds left. but SUU responded with a three of its own to take a 65-64 lead with 21 seconds remaining.

A costly BYU turnover on the following possession gave SUU the ball back with just three seconds left on the clock and the Thunderbirds made their free throws to take the game, 67-64.

The Cougars return to Utah County to take on Utah Valley Thursday, Nov. 29, at 11 a.m. MDT. The game will be streamed live on the WAC Digital Network.

Postgame Notes – at SUU

Team

• For the third time on the year, four Cougar players finished with double-digit points: Brenna Chase (14), Shaylee Gonzales (13), Paisley Johnson (11), Shalae Salmon (10).
• With the 67-64 loss to SUU, the Cougars are now 5-2 on the season.
• For the game, BYU shot 42 percent from the field, 29 percent from 3-point range and 100 percent from the free throw line.
• BYU pulled down 26 rebounds in the first half while SUU grabbed 17. For the game, the Cougars got a total of 39 rebounds and the Thunderbirds finished with 37.
• The nine points scored by BYU in the third quarter were the lowest in that period on the year.

Player

• Junior guard Brenna Chase had nine points, one steal and four rebounds in the first half of play. She finished the game with a team-high 14 points, a team-best in steals with two, one block and four rebounds.
• Freshman guard Shaylee Gonzales had five rebounds, two assists and six points in the first half of play. For the game, she tallied 13 points and recorded team bests in rebounds with six and in assists with six.
• Junior forward Shalae Salmon picked up her third game scoring in double figures with 10 points. She also grabbed five rebounds.
• Sophomore center Sara Hamson led the way in blocks with four in the game while contributing two points, grabbed four rebounds and got one steal.
• Sophomore Paisley Johnson recorded her seventh-straight game with double figure points with 11. She pulled down five rebounds, dished out four assists and got one block.