Women's hoops falls short in 99-91 overtime loss at Oklahoma

NORMAN, Okla. – Despite a record-setting night from senior Tegan Graham, the No. 16 BYU women’s basketball team suffered its first loss of the season, 99-91 in overtime, at Oklahoma on Friday.

Graham scorched the nets for a school-record 10 three-pointers for 30 points but it wasn’t enough to outscore the Sooners (9-1) who entered the game as the No. 2 scoring offense in the country.

BYU (8-1) shot 40.9 percent from the field to Oklahoma’s 42.5 percent. The Sooners also had the advantage on the glass, outrebounding the Cougars 56 to 45.

Trailing by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter, BYU battled back to take things into overtime, but Oklahoma outscored the Cougars 16-8 in the extra period, including an 11-0 run to put the game out of reach.

Graham went 10 of 16 from behind the arc, setting a new school record for made triples, topping Erin Thorn and Kim Beeston’s nine. She added four rebounds and three assists.

Shaylee Gonzales continued to score the basketball, putting in her fifth consecutive game of more than 20 points with 24, in addition to six boards and five assists.

Lauren Gustin was back in the lineup and posted her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and a career-best 21 rebounds. Maria Albiero stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, six assists, five rebounds and career-high five steals.

BOX SCORE

First half
Graham hit a trey and Gustin and Sara Hamson added layups to make it 19-9 as part of an 11-0 run for BYU in the first six minutes of the game. Oklahoma made a bit of a run including a three at the buzzer at the end of the first quarter but BYU still led 26-19. Graham was 3 for 3 from distance in the first quarter of action.

Graham hit two more triples in the second quarter and the Sooners kept pace with BYU holding onto a 32-25 advantage with five minutes left until halftime.

Oklahoma cut the lead to three points before Graham’s three-point barrage continued with sixth of the first half, giving her 18 points and BYU a 38-32 lead with 2 minutes until the break. BYU took a 41-37 lead into halftime.  

Second half
The Sooners retook the lead three minutes into the third quarter at 44-43, but BYU took it back at the 6:35 mark on a Paisley Harding bucket.

BYU suffered from some cold shooting and fell behind 53-47 with four minutes left in the third quarter but heated up against to make it a one-point game behind a three from Albiero and a mid-range jumper from Gonzales. The game continued to go back-and-forth with the Cougars trailing 58-56 heading into the fourth quarter.

The teams continued trading baskets through the next five minutes but Oklahoma extended its lead to 76-69.

Graham continued her stroke from distance with her ninth three to make it 76-75 with three minutes to go and keep BYU in it. Harding kept the heat on with one of her own to make it 81-80 Oklahoma with 1:32 to go.

After an Oklahoma turnover, Graham was left open hit No. 10 from downtown to retake the lead at 83-81. The Sooners tied it up and despite a good look at the end of regulation, BYU went to overtime at 83-83.

Overtime
Oklahoma went up 88-85 but back-to-back baskets from Gonzales and Harding put the Cougars back in front with three minutes to go in overtime. Gustin hit two free throws to give BYU a 91-88 lead with 2:47 to go.

The Cougars got bottled up for the next two minutes and fell behind 97-91 with 23 seconds remaining. Oklahoma would go on to win 99-91.

BYU will return home to the Marriott Center for its fifth-consecutive Power 5 game against Washington State on Saturday, Dec. 18 at 12 p.m. The game will be broadcast on BYUtv.org and the BYUtv App.