Women Win Third Straight

PROVO, Utah – Behind a balanced attack that featured points from 12 different players, the BYU women’s basketball team won their third consecutive game with a 77-58 victory over the Eastern Washington Eagles Saturday.

"I don't think this was one of our better nights," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "We didn't play as good as I know we can play. I think the key is we played good enough to win tonight. Our bench did a good job in the first half giving us a spark, both offensively and defensively they got us going. I'm happy with the outcome. It was nice to get a lot of kids in who needed some minutes and experience."

Sophomores Jennifer Hamson and Kim Parker led the way for BYU with 13 points apiece. Freshman Lexi Eaton also scored in double figures with 11 points. Nine other BYU players scored to contribute to the win.

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The BYU defense held the Eagles to 19-58 shooting for the game, a 32.8 percent rate. The Cougars also forced Eastern Washington into 21 turnovers against just 14 assists. BYU led the Eagles to commit 25 personal fouls, which led to three different Eastern Washington players fouling out.

Eastern Washington jumped out to an early 9-2 lead after nailing their first three 3-point attempts. BYU narrowed the lead to 11-8 with 15:09 remaining after sophomore Stephanie Vermunt hit two consecutive triples.

The Cougars tied the score at the 12:05 mark when Hamson posted up and scored to make it 11-11. The Eagles responded with a three-pointer to take the 14-11 lead, which proved to be their final lead of the game.

After falling behind again by three, BYU scored on three straight fast breaks to go up 17-14, which sparked a 25-5 run during the final 11:26 of the half. Despite trailing for the first eight minutes of the game, BYU went into the locker room with a 36-19 lead, largely due to suffocating defense that held the Eagles to 6-25 shooting in the half.

The two teams played evenly through the second half and exchanged baskets throughout. Parker and Hamson were the leaders for BYU in the second half with 11 and eight points, respectively.

Brianne Ryan kept Eastern Washington in the game with 14 of her game-high 22 points coming into the second half. But, discounting Ryan’s statistics, the Eagles managed to make only 13 field goals in 45 attempts in the game.

Next up for BYU is the Hukilau Invitational in Laie, Hawaii. The Cougars will face off against BYU-Hawaii on November 29 at 3 p.m. HST and will also play Arizona and Syracuse in the tournament. 

Postgame Notes

Team

The Cougars held EWU to 24 percent shooting in first half and 32.8 percent for the game.

BYU’s bench scored 40 points and held the Eagles’ bench to only 16 points.

BYU forced 21 EWU turnovers and made 17 points off turnovers.

The Cougars’ largest lead came with 5:35 left in the second half, when they went ahead by 23.

Players

Stephanie Vermunt scored three three-pointers for a new season high.

Haley Steed dished out eight assists, a season high.

Dani Peterson tied her career high of two steals.

Alexis Kaufusi recorded a season-high six points.

Jennifer Hamson recorded season highs of 13 points and four blocks. Hamson was also 9-for-11 from the charity stripe.

Lexi Eaton earned her fifth double-figure outing of the season with 11 points.

Kim Parker scored 13 points for her fourth double-figure outing of the season.