Saint Mary's College of California
Mar 06 | 03:00 PM
59 - 49
Brigham Young University
Orleans Arena

4500 West Tropicana Avenue Las Vegas NV 89103

Alexa Anderson | Posted: 6 Mar 2017 | Updated: 8 Nov 2020
Alexa Anderson

Cougars fall to Gaels in semifinals of WCC Championships

Image
images

Box Score

Facebook Gallery

LAS VEGAS — Despite double figures from Makenzi Pulsipher and Kalani Purcell, BYU women’s basketball fell to Saint Mary’s 59-49 in the second semifinal game of the West Coast Conference tournament on Monday at the Orleans Arena.

“I thought Saint Mary’s played really well today,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “They played their physical style of basketball and that was probably the biggest factor of this game. We forced it too much today, and against Saint Mary’s you can’t do that. I’m grateful for the seniors and all they have done for this team, program and university.”

Pulsipher led all scorers with a game-high 16 points, while Purcell recorded 15 points and nine rebounds.

BYU tallied 12 steals to Saint Mary’s five, while the Gaels outrebounded the Cougars 50 to 25.

Saint Mary’s jumped out to a 6-0 lead as the Cougars gave up five early offensive rebounds and struggled to find their rhythm offensively.

A Pulsipher trey with 6:49 on the first quarter clock put BYU on the board, cutting the Gaels’ lead to three, 6-3. After a Saint Mary’s four-point swing, three-straight baskets from Pulsipher, Amanda Wayment and Purcell brought BYU within one, 10-9.

Saint Mary’s responded with four unanswered points, and the Cougars trailed the Gaels 14-9 going into the second quarter.

BYU started the second quarter on a 5-0 run to tie the game at 14-all. Pulsipher fueled the Cougar streak as she converted her second 3-pointer of the game and then found Cassie Broadhead for a layup.

Purcell gave BYU its first lead of the game, 18-16, at the 4:49 mark of the second as the WCC Defensive Player of the Year finished a tough layup on the block.

Four quick points by Wayment forced a Saint Mary’s timeout as BYU took the 22-18 lead with 2:02 left in the half. Purcell hit a deep 3 as the halftime buzzer sounded to give the Cougars the seven-point 27-20 advantage at the break.

Pulsipher led BYU with a first half-high 10 points in 20 minutes of action.

The teams traded baskets through the first five minutes of second half play before Saint Mary’s closed the gap to one, 33-32. The Gaels took the 34-33 lead and then extended their advantage to six, 39-33, as BYU went scoreless for 3:46.

Purcell ended BYU’s scoring drought as the senior nailed an elbow jumper. Pulsipher then drained a long two with 57 seconds left in the third to bring BYU within two, 41-39.

Saint Mary’s opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back 3-point field goals to increase its lead to eight, 47-39. After each team went scoreless for 4:47, the Gaels scored in the paint to lead by 10.

After a 1 for 2 trip to the line by Brenna Chase, Saint Mary’s led 55-40 with 2:36 left in the game. Purcell made a pair of three throws with 1:15 on the clock to give the Cougars five points in the quarter to that point.

BYU closed the gap to eight, 57-49, as Liz Eaton knocked down a 3 from the corner with 17 seconds left.

The Gaels outscored the Cougars 39 to 22 in the second half.

BYU women’s basketball awaits a potential postseason bid that would be announced in the coming week.

Postgame Notes

Team

With the loss against Saint Mary’s, BYU moves to 20–11 on the year and 7–8 all time against the Gaels.

For the third time this season, two Cougars scored in double figures.

BYU held Saint Mary’s to 17.9 (5 of 28) percent shooting in the first half.

The Cougars finished with 12 steals, the teams’ 18th game this season with 10-plus steals. BYU has posted 10-plus steals in seven-straight games.

Player

Makenzi Pulsipher scored 10 first half points and finished with _16. She has now scored in double figures 23 times this season. Pulsipher also finished with three steals, her 17th game with 3-plus steals this season.

Pulsipher passed Haley Steed (76 in 2009-10) for seventh most steals in a single season with 77.

Kalani Purcell finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. It was her 22nd game this season with double figure points. Her nine rebounds give her 744 for her career, tying Kristin Riley for seventh all-time in career rebounds. Purcell also had three steals, her 14th game this season with 3-plus steals.

Sophomore Jasmine Moody posted a career high two steals.

Liz Eaton hit a 3-pointer late in the game. It was her first field goal since hitting a 3 against Pepperdine on Feb. 9.

Norma Bertoch | Posted: 4 Mar 2017 | Updated: 8 Nov 2020
Norma Bertoch

Cougar women to play Saint Mary’s in WCC Semifinals

Image

LAS VEGAS— After an impressive come from behind 75-66 win over San Diego in the quarterfinals of the 2017 West Coast Conference Championships, No. 2 seed BYU women’s basketball (20-10) advanced to the semifinals of the league tournament.

BYU vs. Saint Mary's Game Notes

The Cougars will play No. 3 seed Saint Mary’s (19-11) on Monday, March 6, at 2 p.m. PST at Orleans Arena. BYU and the Gaels finished tied for second place in the WCC regular season race. Because the Cougars had a tiebreaker over SMC with a win over Gonzaga, BYU entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed, and the Gaels are the No. 3 seed.

BYU AT A GLANCE
Three players are scoring in double figures for the Cougars with a team- and league-best 18.4 points a game from junior guard Cassie Broadhead. Senior guard Makenzi Pulsipher is next in scoring, contributing 13.1 points to the Cougars' offensive threat. The third BYU player to put up double digits in points is senior All-American Kalani Purcell. She’s averaging a double-double with 12.8 points and a team-and league-high 10.6 boards per game.

BYU finished league play ranked first in scoring margin, field goal percentage, field goal percentage defense, assists, steals, turnover margin and in assist/turnover ratio. The Cougars finished second in free throw percentage, rebounding defense, blocked shots and defensive rebounds.

Overall, the Cougars are scoring 68.1 points per game, while shooting 42.6 percent from the field, 33.9 percent from behind the arc and 72.5 percent from the charity stripe. BYU pulls down 36.5 rebounds a contest.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78), 16th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #20 C. Broadhead, 18.4 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #32 K. Purcell, 10.6 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #32 K. Purcell, 4.9 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #23 M. Pulsipher, 2.5 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #32 K. Purcell, 1.3 bpg

SAINT MARY’S AT A GLANCE
Saint Mary’s advanced to the semifinals of the 2017 WCC Women’s Basketball Championships after a 60-57 win over Santa Clara on Thursday night.

The Gaels are 19-11 on the year and return seven letterwinners and four starters from last year’s team that compiled a 24-8, 14-4 record.

Similar to the Cougars, Saint Mary’s has three players scoring in double figures, led by 13.6 points from Stella Beck. Megan McKay is next, contributing 10.8 points a game. Sydney Raggio rounds out the double digit scoring, chipping in 10.2 points per contest. In the rebounds category, McKay tops the leaderboard, grabbing a team-best 7.9 boards a game.

Saint Mary’s is scoring 70.9 points per game while shooting 43.9 percent from the field, 33.6 percent from 3-point range and 72.6 percent from the free-throw line. The Gaels grab 42.0 rebounds a game.

• Head coach: Paul Thomas (Wayne State College, ‘88), 11th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #21 S. Beck, 13.6 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #25 M. McKay, 7.9 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #21 S. Beck, 3.1 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #21 S. Beck, 1.6 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #10 C. Turner/#12 S. Raggio .83 bpg

THE SERIES
The series between these two WCC foes is tied at 7-7. In this year’s race, each team won on its home court. The first meeting was in Provo on Jan. 5, when the Cougars recorded the 70-65 win. In the second matchup in Moraga on Feb. 18, the Gaels picked up the 64-58 victory.

Monday’s game between the two will be the first time the teams have met in the semifinals of the league tournament since BYU joined the league in the 2011-12 season. In 2015, the two played in the quarterfinals, with the Cougars advancing with a one-point, 65-64 win on a last-second basket by Lexi Eaton Rydalch.

COMING UP
A win over the Gaels would send BYU to the WCC championship game to be played on Tuesday, March 7, at 1 p.m. PST at Orleans Arena.