BYU wins sixth in a row with 63-52 win at Pepperdine

MALIBU, Calif. – BYU women’s basketball won its sixth game in a row with a 63-52 win over Pepperdine on the road on Saturday afternoon.

"I am proud that we were able to get a road win and go 2-0 this trip," BYU head coach Amber Whiting said. "We still need to raise our level of play and learn something from every single game. We will celebrate this win but there is always something we can work on and learn from."

Junior forward Lauren Gustin, the nation’s leading rebounder continued to get boards, snagging another 20 to go along with 10 points for her 17th double-double of the season. She now has six games with 20 or more rebounds this season, including three in a row.

Nani Falatea led the scoring with 16 points, including three makes from downtown. Emma Calvert had 10 and six rebounds while Kaylee Smiler and Arielle Mackey-Williams chipped in nine points apiece.

The Cougars (10-8, 5-2) shot 41.7 percent for the game, including 40 percent mark from behind the arc. BYU capitalized on 17 turnovers, scoring 18 off of the Pepperdine miscues. The Cougars had just 10 giveaways.

Box Score

First quarter
Pepperdine came out with some scoring punch in the first few minutes before BYU battled back to make it a 10-8 Waves’ lead with 3:19 left in the first quarter.

After a timeout, the Cougars got a stop on defense and Rose Bubakar hit the first 3-pointer of the game to put BYU in front 11-10.

Smiler added another trey before the end of the first quarter and BYU stayed in front 14-12.

Second quarter
Calvert sealed off her defender to get a quick pass down low from Mackey-Williams to make it 22-13 with 6:24 to go until halftime.

The Cougars put together an 8-0 run and held Pepperdine scoreless for nearly four minutes to build up a 28-13 lead with 2:58 left.

BYU went into the locker room with a 30-20 edge. Smiler and Bubakar each had seven points to lead the Cougar scoring while Gustin added six points and 13 rebounds at the break. Calvert pitched in six points and six boards.

Third quarter
Mackey-Williams hit a deep triple five minutes into the third quarter to push the BYU advantage to 42-29.

The Waves continued to fight back though, cutting the edge to 44-35 before Falatea hit back-to-back threes in the last minute of the quarter to go up by 15, its largest lead of the game at 50-35.

Fourth quarter
BYU continued to put the pressure on in the fourth quarter with Falatea getting layups and Gustin getting good looks at the rim for a 57-41 edge with 5:22 to go.  

Calvert knocked in a midrange jumper to put BYU up 61-48 with under two minutes to play. The Cougars stayed in control for a 63-52 win.

BYU hosts San Francisco on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 11 a.m. MT at the Marriott Center. The game is the annual game with multiple elementary schools in attendance for a unique environment. The game will be televised on BYUtv.