Cougars cruise to 87-66 win over Utah State

LOGAN, Utah — Behind a career night from Lauren Gustin and a game-high 27 points from Shaylee Gonzales, BYU women’s basketball cruised to an 87-66 win over Utah State on Monday at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

BYU vs. Utah State Final Box Score

“We knew that Lauren would have an advantage tonight with her strength and inside presence,” said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins. “Her and Shaylee play really well together. It was a great team effort. Everybody that came in gave us a good lift."

Gustin racked up 21 points and a game-high 17 rebounds while also adding three assists in 31 minutes of play. The redshirt sophomore shot 7 of 15 from the floor in her most dominant game as a Cougar thus far.

Gonzales led all scorers with 27 points on 11 of 17 shooting, including 3 of 5 from three. The Gilbert, Ariz., native also tallied four rebounds, a game-high four steals and three assists on the evening.

Paisley Johnson Harding also scored in double figures for BYU (2-1), pouring in 14 points to go along with four rebounds and three assists. Tegan Graham contributed seven points and three assists while Maria Albiero stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal.

As a team, the Cougars shot 50% from the field while holding the Aggies (1-3) to 38.3%. BYU jumped to an early 7-0 advantage and, after going up 19-8 with three minutes left in the first quarter, never let its lead get below nine the rest of the way.

Back-to-back baskets in the paint by Gustin followed by a layup and a free throw by Gonzales gave BYU a quick 7-0 lead. The Cougars continued to dominate down low early, as layups by Hamson, Graham and Gonzales put BYU up 13-3. Three-pointers by Gonzales and Graham followed by a Harding layup then gave the Cougars a 23-10 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

Gustin opened the second quarter with a layup before a Gonzales layup and triple put BYU up 14, 33-19, midway through the period. Gustin drained a pair of free throws, Gonzales hit a 3-pointer and Malli Perri scored a put-back layup to then give the Cougars a 40-24 lead. BYU held Utah State scoreless over the final 4:36 of the half, as a pair of Albiero free throws gave the Cougars a 42-24 advantage at the break.

BYU carried its solid shooting into the second half, as three baskets down low by Harding and a Gonzales 3-pointer extended the Cougars’ lead to 23, 51-28. The Aggies then answered with a 22-8 run to cut BYU’s lead to single digits, 59-50. A Gonzales layup followed by back-to-back baskets in the paint from Gustin, however, put BYU up 65-52 at the end of the third.

Harding scored down low while being fouled before a Gonzales steal led to a fast-break layup to give the Cougars a 69-52 lead. Layups by Harding, Gustin and Gonzales then put BYU up 20, 76-56. A spin move in the post by Gustin led to an easy lay-in before Albiero scored a layup off a euro-step move to bring the score to 80-59 for the Cougars midway through the fourth. A 3-pointer by Perri followed by layups by Babalu Ugwu and Devry Millett brought the final score to 87-66 for BYU.

Up next, the Cougars take on Montana State on Thursday, Dec. 10, at 2 p.m. in the Marriott Center for BYU’s home-opener. The game will be streamed live on the BYUtv App.

PLAYER NOTES

• Gonzales led all scorers at the break with 16 points on 6 of 9 shooting. She finished the game with 27 points on 11 of 17 shooting and added four rebounds, four steals and three assists.
• Gustin hauled in 10 first-half rebounds to go along with nine points and two assists. She ended with 17 boards and 21 points, both BYU career-highs.
• Harding reached double figures in scoring as well, contributing 14 points, four rebounds and three assists.
• Albiero filled the stat sheet with seven points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal.
• Graham added seven points, three assists and a rebound.
• Perri scored her first couple baskets of the year, finishing with five points and three rebounds
• Devry Millett also scored her first basket of the season on a fast-break layup.

TEAM NOTES

• The Cougars shot 42.9% from the field in the first half while holding Utah State to 29.4%. On the game, BYU tallied a 50% shooting percentage while the Aggies shot 38.3%.
• Led by Gustin’s season-high 17 boards, the Cougars out-rebounded Utah State 40-35.
• BYU dominated down low, scoring 52 points in the paint while holding the Aggies to 28.
• In assists, BYU dished out 15 while the Aggies had 11.
• The Cougars had 11 fast break points while holding Utah State to none.

POSTGAME QUOTES

BYU head coach Jeff Judkins: 

On Lauren Gustin

We knew that Lauren would have an advantage tonight with her strength and inside presence. She did a really good job of being aggressive, we did a good job of getting the ball in there two her. Her and Shaylee play really well together.

On the team's depth

It was a great team effort. Everybody that came in gave us a good lift. It helped that Paisley came out and scored like she can in the second half.

On finishing the game strong

Probably what I'm most proud of is when (Utah State) cut it down to nine, we just stepped it up a notch offensively and defensively. Our team has potential to do that, we just need to do it for longer periods of time.