Comeback falls short in 68-62 loss to Troy in Hawaii

LAIE, Hawaii – BYU women’s basketball fell to the Troy Trojans 68-62 on Saturday at the North Shore Showcase in Hawaii.

BYU (1-4) cut the lead down to three points in the final seconds but couldn’t get any closer as Troy (3-2) closed out the win at the free throw line.

Forward Lauren Gustin filled the stat sheet with her fifth double-double of the season with 21 points and 12 rebounds. This time the junior just missed a triple-double with a career-high eight assists.

Sophomore Rose Bubakar continued to emerge as a scorer with a career-high 19 points and had seven rebounds.

BYU shot 44.4 percent from the field for the game but just 2 of 10 from distance. The Trojans shot 39.4 percent but capitalized on 22 BYU turnovers, scoring 21 points off Cougar giveaways. BYU outrebounded Troy 41-35 on the glass.

Box Score

First half
BYU and Troy traded blows in the first quarter with Troy taking a 9-8 lead with three minutes to go after back-to-back buckets.

The two teams were in a defensive battle at the end of the first with BYU trailing 15-11.

Troy went on and the Cougars went cold for a 4-minute span, falling behind 24-13 with 5:29 to go in the second quarter before Bosquez hit a deep jumper.

BYU went into the half down 31-24 to the Trojans.

Second half
After halftime, both teams continued to go score for score and stop for stop with the Troy advantage 39-32 with under five minutes left in the third.

BYU made it a five-point game with two made free throws from Heather Hamson at the end of the third quarter. BYU trailed 47-42 going into the fourth quarter.

The Cougars trimmed the lead down to three points early in the quarter but the Trojans stayed in front at 53-46 with under four minutes left in the game.

Falatea cut it down to 53-50 with a layup with 3:29 to go in the game. A three on the other end pushed the deficit back to six points at 56-50.

After a second-chance bucket by Troy, Kaylee Smiler drained a 3-pointer to make it 58-55 Troy with under two minutes to play. The Trojans answered with another made jumper and held on to win it with free throws down the stretch.

BYU returns home to Provo to host Carroll College on Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 2 p.m. MT. The game will be streamed on the BYUtv App and BYUtv.org.