Johnson leads Cougars to 60-51 road win over Santa Clara

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Paisley Johnson scored a game-high 28 points to reach the 1,000-career-point milestone and lead the BYU women’s basketball team to a 60-51 road win over Santa Clara Thursday night.

BYU at Santa Clara Final Box Score

"Paisley had an outstanding game tonight in scoring and playing with confidence and in her defense," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "I’m excited for her, what an honor to reach 1,000 points. Sara (Hamson) was active tonight and we had big plays by different people in the game and for a coach that’s what you like to see. I thought another key for us was our defense, especially in the third quarter and that also made a difference in the game."

Johnson, who now has 1,003 career points, became the 31st player in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone and just the 15th to do so as a junior. She shot eight of 13 from the field on the night and four of nine from three-point range while also adding six rebounds, two assists and one steal.

Hamson added six points, five blocks and three rebounds for the Cougars (16-9, 11-4) while Brenna Chase Drollinger stuffed the stat sheet with 10 rebounds, five points, five assists, two blocks and one steal. Maria Albiero contributed nine points, three assists and two steals. Jasmine Moody chipped in five points and five rebounds, two assists and one steal.

BYU shot 40 percent from the floor, including 52 percent in the second half, while holding the Broncos (9-17, 3-12) to just 29 percent on the game.

Drollinger opened the scoring with a fast-break layup after getting a steal on the Cougars’ first defensive possession. A baseline jumper by Perri and a 3-pointer by Johnson then put BYU up 7-2 two minutes into the contest. An 11-1 run by Santa Clara, however, gave the Broncos a 13-8 lead. Another triple by Johnson and a pair of free throws by Moody tied the game at 13, but a 3-1 Santa Clara run to end the quarter put the Broncos up 16-14.

A Johnson trey stopped a 5-0 run by Santa Clara to open the second quarter and brought the Cougars within four, 21-17. A layup by Hamson with a minute left in the half ended a three-minute scoring drought from both teams and brought the score to 26-21 for the Broncos. Santa Clara hit one last 3-pointer to take a 29-21 advantage into the locker room.

BYU opened the second half on a 7-0 run highlighted by back-to-back triples from Drollinger and Albiero to bring the Cougars within one, 29-28. A pair of free throws followed by a put-back layup by Moody and a layup by Hamson then put BYU back in front, 34-31, halfway through the third period.

A 3-pointer from the right wing by Albiero and a long 2-pointer by Johnson extended the Cougars’ lead to six, 39-33. The Broncos came back to tie the game at 39, but a 3-point play and a jumper by Johnson followed by a free throw by Moody gave BYU a 45-39 lead heading into the fourth.

The Cougars came out quick to start the fourth quarter, with back-to-back layups by Shalae Salmon and Babalu Ugwu extending BYU’s lead to 10, 49-39. A triple by Albiero followed by three free throws put the Cougars up 55-42 with 5:53 remaining.

A layup by Hamson and another 3-pointer by Johnson closed out the game and sealed the 60-51 BYU win.  

The Cougars remain on the road to take on San Francisco on Saturday, Feb. 22, at 12 p.m. PST in the War Memorial Gym. A live video stream of the game will be available on the WCC Network.

Team Notes

• With the 60-51 road win at Santa Clara, BYU women’s basketball improved its record to 16-9, 11-4 on the year.
• In the game, the Cougars shot 40 percent from the field, 32 percent from behind the arc and 75 percent from the free-throw line.
• BYU pulled down 41 rebounds to 35 for Santa Clara.
• The Broncos finished the game with the advantage in assists 16 to 14 and in steals 11 to five.

Player Notes

• With a game-high 28 points, Paisley Johnson becomes the 31st overall player to reach 1,000 points in BYU history with 1,003. She’s the 15th player to reach the milestone as a junior and the fourth under coach Judkins.  The double-digit points are the 18th and second-straight for Johnson. In the win, she shot 4 of 9 from 3-point range and went 8 0f 10 from the charity stripe while also grabbed six rebounds, dishing out two assists and getting one steal.
• Brenna Drollinger finished with a game-high 10 rebounds along with five points and tied for game bests in assists with five. She also recorded two blocks and one steal.
• Sara Hamson picked up her 21st game with game highs in blocks with five. She also had six points and three rebounds in the road win.
• Maria Albiero finished the game with nine points, four rebounds, three assists and a team-best two steals.
• Babalu Ugwu came off the bench and grabbed a first-half best five rebounds. She finished the game with six boards along with two points on 1 of 3 shooting from the field.
• Jasmine Moody filled her stat line with five points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal.