MALIBU, Calif. -- Lexi Eaton led BYU women’s basketball to an 89-75 victory over Pepperdine Thursday night.

“We came out shooting well in the first half,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “In the second half we did a good job of getting the ball inside when we needed to. Offensively, Lexi did a great job with her perimeter shooting as well as getting to the rim when we needed it. This is a good road win.”

Eaton led all scorers with 25 points, including a career-high five 3-pointers, to go along with six assists. Jennifer Hamson added an additional 17 points, 14 boards and five blocks. Kim Beeston and Morgan Bailey added 15 and 14 points, respectively, for the Cougars. Beeston went 4 for 8 from the 3-point line and Bailey added nine rebounds.

BYU (22-5, 12-4) had a season-high 26 assists in the game, while outshooting Pepperdine (5-21, 1-14)  51 to 45 percent.

Eaton hit a 3-pointer to start the scoring for both squads. Following a Bailey layup, the Waves’ Amanda Lovely hit a shot from beyond the arc to tie things up at five apiece.

The Cougars then went 5 for 6 from the 3-point line in the first 3:49 of play to jump out to a 19-7 advantage.

Both teams continued to trade buckets from that point to make the score 36-24, BYU. Following that output, each side remained scoreless for 2:19 until Hamson got her first field goal of the game to give BYU a 14-point advantage.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Makenzi Morrison fueled a 10-0 run to put BYU up by 21 points at 48-27.

The Cougars put up a season-high 53 points in the first half to give the Cougars a 20-point advantage heading into the break. BYU shot 11 for 22 from beyond the arc in the first half and had 18 assists to its 20 made baskets.

Scoring remained consistent for both sides after the 20-minute break with the score 61-43 after the first media timeout.

Ashley Garfield completed a 3-point play to give the Cougars their largest lead, 23 points, at 70-47. That was followed with a 12-1 Pepperdine run to cut the BYU lead to 12.

Both teams continued to shoot well, but the Cougars were able to hang on to their double digit lead throughout the rest of the game as BYU cruised to an 89-75 victory.

The Cougars remain on the road this Saturday when they head to Los Angeles to face Loyola Marymount at 2 p.m. PST. BYU won the first matchup of the series with a 90-72 win in Provo. The game can be heard live on BYU Radio. Links to live stats can be found on the BYU women’s basketball schedule page.

Postgame Notes

Team
The Cougars scored 53 points in the first 20 minutes of play against the Waves, the most first half points the team has tallied this season. BYU finished the game with 89 points, the 10th time it has scored 80-plus points this year.

For the 10th time this year BYU had four players pick up double figures in points. Eaton (25), Hamson (17), Beeston (15) and Bailey (14).

BYU tallied 36 points in the paint compared with 26 for Pepperdine. The Cougars also got 18 points off of Waves miscues.

With the 20-point lead at the break, 53-33, BYU improved its record to 16-2 when leading at the half.

The Cougars outrebounded the Waves 41 to 31 making it the 20th time they’ve pulled down more boards than their opponents.

BYU dished out 26 assists to Pepperdine’s 21. It’s the 21st time this year that the Cougars have recorded more assists than their opponents.

Player
After 20 minutes of action, Lexi Eaton led all scorers with 17 points, 15 of which were from 3-point range. She would finish the game with a game-high 25 points, recording her 21st double figure game in points and the eighth time she’s had 20-plus points.

With 17 points and 14 rebounds, senior center Jennifer Hamson recorded her 18th double-double of the year. The rebounds were game highs as were her five blocks.

Morgan Bailey picked up her 11th game with double digits in points with 14 to go along with nine rebounds and a career-best three assists.

Kim Beeston tallied 15 points for her 18th game scoring 10-plus points. She also dished out six assists.

Kylie Maeda had team bests in assists and in steals with seven and three respectively.

PROVO, Utah—Riding a five-game winning streak including a 10-point 62-52 upset victory over No. 15 Gonzaga, BYU women’s basketball (21-5, 11-4) is in second place in the West Coast Conference standings. The team heads to southern California this week for its final road trip in league action.

The Cougars head to Malibu to battle Pepperdine (5-20, 1-13) Thursday at 7 p.m. PST. Live stats and video streaming will be available for the game. Links can be found on the byucougars.com website.

About BYU
Leading the way in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots for BYU is senior center Jennifer Hamson, averaging 18.3 points, 11.1 rebounds and 4.3 blocks per game. She leads the nation in blocked shots, ranks 12th in double-doubles, 16th in rebounds per game and 21st in field goal percentage.

Three other Cougar players are recording double figures in points, with Lexi Eaton putting up 17.0 followed by 10.9 points from Kim Beeston. Junior forward Morgan Bailey rounds out the scoring output, contributing 10.1 points. She is in second place in rebounds pulling down 7.1 per contest.

BYU is averaging 71.7 points per game, while holding opponents to 64.2 points. The Cougars, who rank fifth in the country in blocked shots per game, have recorded more blocks than opponents in 23 games and have dished out more assists in 20 of the 26 games played to date. The team has also recorded more rebounds than opponents in 19 contests.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78) 13th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #5 Hamson, 18.3 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #5 Hamson, 11.1 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #4 Beeston, 3.7 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #4 Beeston, 1.2 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #5 Hamson, 4.3 bpg

About Pepperdine
Pepperdine University (5-20, 1-13) enters the second to last week of WCC action in last place in the most recent league standings.

The Waves have four players scoring in double digits, led by 16.9 points from Bria Richardson. She’s followed by Keitra Wallace who puts in 12.5 points with teammate Allie Green chipping in 12.2. Rounding out the scoring output for Pepperdine is Ea Shoushtari who contributes 10.7 points, while pulling down a team-best 7.1 rebounds per game. The Waves are averaging 64.9 points per game and are grabbing 37.6 rebounds per contest.

Head coach: Ryan Weisenberg (Cal Poly, ‘97) 1st season
• Team’s leading scorer: #10 Bria Richardson, 16.9 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #11 Ea Shoushtari, 7.1 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #10 B. Richardson, 3.6 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #10 B. Richardson, 2.6 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #44 Kelsey Brockway, 0.6 bpg

Series History
BYU leads the overall series 6-2. When playing in Malibu, the Cougars are 1-2. 

Last Meeting
In BYU’s 65-50 home win over Pepperdine on Dec. 30, freshman Makenzi Morrison came off the bench with nine points to spark the win. She also added career-highs in rebounds (2) and assists (3). The Cougars trailed the Waves until a breakaway layup by Morrison put BYU ahead 31-30 with 3:14 left to play in the first half.

Lexi Eaton led all BYU scorers with 18 points, 16 of which came in the second half of play. Eaton scored nine of 11 points during an 11-0 run that saw BYU go from a five-point lead to a 17-point lead.

Senior Kim Beeston tallied eight points for the Cougars, becoming the 25th BYU player to join the 1,000-point club. 

Up Next
After Thursday night’s game at Pepperdine, the Cougar women remain in the Los Angeles area, taking on Loyola Marymount on Sat., at 2 p.m. PST, from Gersten Pavilion. The game vs. the Lions can be heard live on BYU Radio.

The following week the Cougars return home for the final game in the 2014 WCC schedule. BYU hosts San Diego, Sat. Mar.1 at 1 p.m. The team’s two seniors, Kim Beeston and Jennifer Hamson will be recognized. The game vs. the Toreros will air live on BYUtv.