Cougars Down Thunderbirds

PROVO, Utah--Taking on its first in-state rival of the week, the BYU women’s basketball team defeated the Southern Utah Thunderbirds 82-49 Thursday night at the Marriott Center.

 

"It was a great game for a lot of our players that don't always have a lot of opportunities to play," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "I thought we played really solid. It was great to get everybody in the game."

Although it was SUU’s Hailey Mandelko who started out the game with a 3-pointer, BYU (8-2) took control of the half from there with a 15-2 run sparked by a jumper from Kristen Riley.  From there BYU extended its lead to as much as 21 within the half.  At the half, the Cougars led by 20 with a score of 35-15.

 

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The Cougars had a strong defensive presence in the first half, holding the Thunderbirds to 15 points and forcing 18 turnovers.  BYU also posted eight blocks to SUU’s two, three of those eight by Hamson.

Both teams entered foul trouble early in the second half, but the Cougars continued to control the game, extending their lead to as much as 40.  

BYU reached deep into their bench, playing 16 different players throughout the game with 13 different Cougars contributing points. As a team, BYU recorded an impressive 15 blocks and 15 steals and shot 40 percent from the field.

Kim Parker led the Cougars with 17 points, four steals and two blocks.  Haley Steed also posted nine points, six rebounds, six assists and two blocks and Hamson had a season-high five blocks to tie a career high.

The Thunderbirds were led by Tayler Anderson who posted 12 points and seven rebounds.

Next, BYU faces Utah on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Marriott Center.  The game will be broadcast live on BYUtv.

 

Postgame Notes

Team

BYU is 7-0 when leading at the half.

The Cougars are 5-1 when outrebounding their opponent. BYU had 54 rebounds to SUU’s 49.

BYU forced 28 turnovers. The Cougars are 6-0 when they force more than 20 turnovers.

The Cougars are 2-0 when they have between 17 and 20 turnovers.

BYU recorded 21 assists, 15 blocks and 15 steals.

The team held SUU to seven assists, two blocks and seven steals in the first half.

The Cougars held SUU to shooting 21 percent from the field.

BYU now has a 3-1 home record.

Players

Kim Parker recorded her eighth double-figure outing of the season with 17 points on 53.8 percent shooting. Parker also tied her career steals record with four.

Stephanie Rovetti was 8-for-8 from the charity stripe and tied her career steals record with four.

Jennifer Hamson led the team in rebounds with seven, tying her season record, and in blocks with five, tying her career record.

Haley Steed led the team in assists with six and added nine points, tied with Stephanie Vermunt for second highest on the team.