PROVO, Utah— BYU beat San Francisco 81-47 behind 23 points from Lexi Eaton and double-doubles by Kim Beeston, Morgan Bailey and Jennifer Hamson.

"I was really happy tonight," head coach Jeff Judkins said. "I thought defensively the first half was one of our best defensive efforts that we’ve had in a while. It’s nice to see two of your bigs have double-doubles and really dominate inside. That gave us an advantage today and hopefully they’ll continue to do that when we play (San Francisco) again and as we play other teams."

Highlights and Interviews

Eaton’s game high led four Cougars (15-4, 5-3 WCC) in double figures. Beeston scored 11 and tied a career high with 10 assists. Bailey had 13 points and 12 rebounds. Hamson finished with a near triple-double, tying a career high with 17 rebounds to go along with 14 points and eight blocks for her 12th double-double of the season. Ashley Garfiled pitched in 10 rebounds. 

Zhane Dikes led the Dons (7-12, 2-6 WCC) with 13 points and five rebounds. Taylor Proctor contributed seven points and nine rebounds.

The Cougars got off to a quick 11-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game, highlighted by back-to-back 3’s from Eaton and Kylie Maeda. Hamson had five blocks in the first 6:36 of the game and finished with six in the half. After the Dons cut the lead to 16-9, the Cougars scored the next 12 straight to extend their lead to 28-9. Eaton had six points during that stretch and the last 12 BYU points of the half. The Cougars held the Dons to 16 percent shooting to take a 34-12 lead into the break.

The BYU lead hovered above 20 until the Cougars used a 12-1 run to extend the lead to 68-35 with just over six minutes left in the game to put the game out of reach.

Kim Beeston hit two 3’s early in the second half to move into fourth place all-time in 3-pointers made with 205, passing Kari Gallup.

The Cougars return to action Saturday when they host Santa Clara at 2 p.m. MST at the Marriott Center. The game can be seen live on BYUtv.

Postgame Notes

Team

The Cougars opened the game on an 11-0 in the first 3:18 of play.

BYU held San Francisco to 21 percent shooting while the Cougars shot 46 percent from the field on the night. BYU won the assist ratio 21-6 as well as the rebound battle 58-34. The 58 rebounds set a new season high for the year. The 12 blocks for BYU were also a season high for the Cougars.

This was the seventh game of the season where BYU scored at least 80 points. BYU got 30 of its points in the paint, compared to just 10 for the Dons.

The Cougars’ 13 turnovers were the second fewest of the year.

Player

Morgan Bailey (13 points, 12 rebounds), Kim Beeston (11 points, 10 assists) and Jennifer Hamson (14 points, 17 rebounds) all finished the game with double-doubles. This was Beeston’s first career double-double.

Jennifer Hamson had five blocks in the first 6:36 of play. She finished the first half with 10 boards and six blocks. Hamson ended the game grabbing 17 boards to tie her career high for the second-straight game. She also had 14 points and eight blocks, one shy of her career high.

Lexi Eaton had 15 of BYU’s 34 points at halftime and finished with a game-high 23 to go along with three rebounds.

Kim Beeston led the team in assists with 10 to tie her career high and hit three 3-pointers to put her ahead of Kari Gallup for fourth all-time in career 3-pointers made.

Ashley Garfield finished the game in double digit rebounds with 10. 

The BYU women’s basketball team has compiled a 14-4 record and enters this week’s West Coast Conference action in fourth place with a 4-3 mark. 

The Cougar women host two league foes this week. San Francisco (7-11, 2-5) comes to Provo Thursday, Jan. 23, in a 7 p.m. tip off. On Saturday, Santa Clara makes an appearance in the Marriott Center in a 2 p.m. tip off. Both league games will air live on BYUtv.

About BYU
Senior center Jennifer Hamson is one of three Cougar players who are putting up double digits in scoring, averaging 17.6 points per game. She has scored in double figures in all but three games. Sophomore guard Lexi Eaton is averaging 15.4 points per game with teammate Kim Beeston rounding out the double-digit output, contributing 11.8 points per contest.

As a team, BYU is averaging 70.3 points per game and is holding opponents to 66.3 points. The Cougars have recorded more blocks than opponents in all but one game (at Gonzaga) and have dished out more assists in 14 of the 18 games played to date. They have also recorded more rebounds in 13 contests.

BYU was picked to finish fourth in the WCC regular-season race behind San Diego, Saint Mary’s and league-favorite Gonzaga. Hamson was named to the preseason all-conference team, her second such honor.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78) enters his 13th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #5 Hamson, 17.6 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #5 Hamson, 10.2 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #4 Beeston, 3.4 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #4 Beeston, 1.3 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #5 Hamson, 3.8 bpg

About San Francisco
After playing two home league games last week, San Francisco (7-11, 2-5) is tied for seventh place with Santa Clara in the latest WCC standings.

Taylor Proctor is one of four players that are scoring in double figures for the Dons with a team-best 14.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Taj Winston is next with 11.6 points per contest.  Teammate Rachel Howard contributes 11.4 points and rounding out the double-digit scoring output is Zhane Dikes who is putting up 11.2 points per game.  San Francisco is scoring 70.3 points per game, pulls down 40.2 rebounds and is shooting 41 percent from the field.

Last year, the Dons compiled a 12-19 record and finished in eighth place in the WCC. The team returns 10 letterwinners including four starters.

• Head coach: Jennifer Azzi (Stanford, ‘90) 4th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #32 Proctor, 14.3 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #32 Proctor, 7.9 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #1 Dikes, 2.5 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #2 Winston, 1.6 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #11 Howard, 0.9 bpg

Series History
BYU leads the series 8-2. When playing in Provo, the Dons are 1-4. The last time San Francisco beat BYU was on Feb. 12, 2012 when the Dons upset the then No. 23 ranked Cougars, 71-64.

Last Meeting
During last season’s WCC race, the two league foes split the series with each team winning on its home court. On Jan. 5 BYU recorded the 80-58 victory and on Jan. 26 USF picked up the 65-56 win in San Francisco.

Up Next
On Saturday, the women’s basketball team rounds out its home slate of league games for the month of January hosting Santa Clara in a 2 p.m. tip off.  The following week BYU goes on the road to play at Saint Mary’s and at Pacific on Jan. 30 and Feb. 1, respectively.

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