Balanced offensive attack gives BYU 66-54 road win over Portland

PORTLAND, Ore. — Four different Cougars reached double figures in scoring as the BYU women’s basketball team defeated Portland 66-54 on the road Thursday night.

BYU at Portland Final Box Score

"This was a scrappy game, real physical and fast," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "We played great defense and didn’t let them get any easy baskets. I thought Sara (Hamson) played her best game since I’ve coached her both offensively and defensively.  I thought Jasmine (Moody) and Babalu (Ugwu) played really well tonight and gave us a good lift and made baskets when we needed them to. I also thought Brenna (Drollinger) handled their pressure really well tonight.

Hamson led the Cougars (13-7, 8-2) with her fourth double-double of the season, recording 14 points and 10 rebounds to go along with a season-high nine blocks and one steal. Paisley Johnson followed with 12 points while adding six rebounds, five assists and three steals. Jasmine Moody had 11 points and four rebounds while Maria Albiero contributed 10 points and six assists.

As a team, BYU shot 52 percent from the floor on the night while holding the Pilots (13-8, 6-4) to just 33 percent. The Cougars also dominated down low, scoring 46 points in the paint to Portland’s 22.

Hamson and Babalu Ugwu opened the scoring for BYU with consecutive baskets in the paint to put the Cougars up 4-3 two minutes into the contest. Back-to-back fast-break layups by Johnson and Brenna Chase Drollinger increased BYU’s lead to five, 8-3. Teams then traded baskets to close the first quarter, with Johnson hitting a mid-range jumper to put the Cougars up 14-10.

A put-back lay-in by Moody followed by a pair of free throws by Albiero brought the score to 18-14 for BYU two minutes into the second quarter. Another basket down low by Moody and an Albiero triple from the left wing then put the Cougars up seven, 23-16.

Portland answered with a 9-3 run to take a 27-26 advantage with two minutes left in the first half. Back-to-back layups by Moody and Albiero then put BYU up 30-27, but the Pilots scored the final four points of the half to take a 31-30 advantage into the locker room.

The Cougars came out strong to open the second half, with a deep trey by Albiero and a fast-break layup by Johnson highlighting a 9-0 run to put BYU up 39-30. Consecutive fast-break layups by Hamson and Kaylee Smiler followed by another Hamson layup then gave the Cougars a 45-35 lead.

Ugwu pulled up and nailed a mid-range jumper to extend BYU’s lead to 12, 47-35, with three minutes left in the third quarter. Ugwu proceeded to score two more baskets, making a layup off an inbounds play and hitting another mid-range jumper to put the Cougars up 51-38. Portland responded with five unanswered points to cut BYU’s lead to eight, 51-43, at the end of the third period.

Consecutive baskets down low by Hamson and Moody put the Cougars up 10, 55-45, midway through the fourth quarter. Drollinger then hit a deep 3-pointer to increase BYU’s advantage to 13, 58-45.

Drollinger got a contested layup to fall to give the Cougars a 60-46 lead with 3:08 remaining. After a 6-0 Pilot run cut BYU’s lead to eight, Johnson found Hamson for a wide-open layup on a fast break to put the Cougars up 62-52 with 1:12 left.

After Portland made one final shot to cut BYU’s lead to eight with 53 seconds remaining, Johnson converted four consecutive free throws to close out the 66-54 win.

The Cougars remain on the road this weekend to take on No. 12 Gonzaga on Saturday, Feb. 1, at 2 p.m. PST at the McCarthey Athletic Center. The game will be carried live on the WCC Network.

Team Notes

• With the 66-54 road win at Portland, the Cougars improved their record to 13-7, 8-2 on the year.
• For the fifth time this season, four BYU players recorded double figures in points. Sara Hamson (14), Paisley Johnson (12), Jasmine Moody (11) and Maria Albiero (10).
• In the first half, BYU scored 22 points in the paint compared with eight for Portland. For the game, the Cougars scored 46 points in the paint with the Pilots scoring 22.
• Both teams went into the locker room at halftime with seven assists each. BYU finished the game with the advantage dishing out 19 assists to Portland’s 12.
• The Pilots had the advantage in steals with six to BYU’s five in the first half of action. Portland concluded the game with 10 steals to BYU’s eight.
• In the rebounds category, the Cougars had the edge pulling down 34 boards compared with 31 for the Pilots.

Player Notes

• Sara Hamson pulled down a team-best six rebounds in the first half of action while contributing four points and a first-half high five blocks. She finished the game with a near triple-double from team bests in points (14) and game highs in rebounds with 10 while also recording a game- and season-best nine blocks.
• Jasmine Moody came off the bench to lead the way in scoring for BYU at halftime with nine points. She finished the game with her fourth game with double figures in points with 11. Her stat line also included four rebounds and one assist.
• Paisley Johnson picked up her 15th game with 10+points with 12 including going four of four from the free-throw line. She also pulled down six rebounds, five assists and had a team-best three steals.
• Maria Albiero tallied seven points at the break and finished the game with her fifth game with double-digit points (10) while tying for game highs in assists with six. She also pulled down two rebounds and got one steal.