PROVO, Utah - Morgan Bailey’s double-double carried BYU women’s basketball to a 65-62 victory over San Francisco at the Marriott Center Saturday.

“I'm happy to get the win,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “This is a hard stretch with finals, Christmas, New Year's and half of my team is sick, but the girls have pulled through."

Bailey led all scorers with 26 points and added 12 rebounds while converting on 11 of 18 shot attempts. Lexi Eaton scored 18 points, while Ashley Garfield tied Bailey for a team-high 12 rebounds. Kylie Maeda and Xojian Harry contributed four assists.

"Bailey is so good under pressure,” Judkins said. “She plays so much better with the game on the line and Ashley was great tonight.”

Maeda scored for BYU (11-4, 3-1 WCC) on its first possession of the game making a floating jump shot along the baseline as the shot clock was running down.

After the Cougars built a 9-3 advantage early, San Francisco (9-6, 0-4 WCC) went on a 13-0 run hitting six-straight shots to take a 16-9 lead. BYU responded with a 10-0 run to regain the lead at 19-16 midway through the first half. The run was sparked by Bailey’s play in the low post, utilizing her size and quickness for a couple of easy lay-ins.

The Dons would go into the break with a two-point edge, 35-33. Eaton led the way for the Cougars with 11 points in the first half followed by Bailey with 10 points.

Eaton began the second half driving along the baseline and finding Bailey open underneath the basket for a lay-in to tie the game, 35-35.

The teams went back-and-forth exchanging the lead until BYU began to capture the momentum in the final 10 minutes of the half. Out of a timeout, another Bailey bucket in the paint and a free throw by Eaton gave the Cougars a seven-point lead with seven minutes left, 56-49.

With 3:14 left and BYU hanging on to a 59-53 lead, Garfield found Bailey with good position in the low-post for an easy lay-in. Bailey was fouled on the shot and made the following free throw to extend its lead to its largest of the game, 62-53.

The Dons answered on the next few possessions, hitting four free throws and draining a 3-pointer at the top of the key to cut the Cougars’ lead to 62-60 with just under two minutes to play. 

However, the Cougar defense stiffened and Maeda made four free throws in the final minute to hold off San Francisco for the win.

"Kylie is one of my best foul shooters so I had confidence in her that she would knock down those two at the end to put us up three,” Judkins said. “Kylie and Lexi are my two best foul shooters and they're usually money but luckily she stepped up on those last two shots."

BYU’s next game will be on the road next week playing Loyola Marymount on Thursday, Jan. 8, at 7:00 p.m. PST.

Postgame Notes

Team

The Cougars led the rebound category 20-14 at halftime and ended the game with a 38-33 advantage. BYU also led in second-chance points 11-2 and bench points 7-0.

San Francisco had a seven-minute lead with 15:04 left in the first quarter while BYU's largest lead was at 62-53 with 3:14 remaining in the game. 

The Cougars went just 20 for 32 from the charity stripe while the Dons went 12 for 14.

Player

Lexi Eaton led all BYU scorers at halftime with 11 points, and Ashley Garfield had a team-high seven boards at the break. Eaton finished the game with 18 points, including three 3-pointers. Garfield ended the game with a near double-double of eight points and a team-high 12 rebounds.

Morgan Bailey collected her sixth double-double of the season, ending with 26 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. It was also her fifth 20-point game of the year.

Xojian Harry and Kylie Maeda each tied with a team-high four assists with Harry adding a team-high two blocks.

PROVO, Utah— The BYU women’s basketball team (9-4, 1-1) split its first two road West Coast Conference matchups of the 2014-15 campaign. They lost at Gonzaga and won at Portland.

BYU returns home to open up its home slate of league games this week, hosting Santa Clara (5-6, 0-2) on New Year’s Day at 12:30 p.m. MST. Then they take on San Francisco (9-4, 0-2) on Saturday, Jan. 3 at 2 p.m. MST. Both games are scheduled to air live on BYUtv and will be simulcast on BYU Radio.

About BYU
Morgan Bailey, a 6-foot-2 senior forward, leads the team in both points and rebounds with 18.6 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. Lexi Eaton, a 5-foot-10 junior guard/forward combo, follows scoring 18.4 points per game. She ranks third in rebounds, pulling down 6.0 boards a contest. The team’s assist leader is Kylie Maeda, who averages 4.3 assists a game.

The Cougars are scoring 67.3 points per game while shooting 38.3 percent from the field, 69.0 percent at the free-throw line and 35.1 percent from 3-point land. In all but one game (at Gonzaga), BYU has dished out more assists than its opponents, has recorded more rebounds in seven contests to date and has an 8-0 mark when leading at the break.

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78) 14th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #41 M. Bailey, 18.6 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #41 M. Bailey, 10.0 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #15 K. Maeda, 4.3 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #23 M. Morrison, 1.5 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #41, M. Bailey, .46 bpg

About SANTA CLARA
After the first week of WCC games, Santa Clara has a 5-6, 0-2 record, playing its first two league games at home. On the road, the Broncos are 2-3.

Santa Clara returns eight letterwinners, including three starters from last year’s squad that compiled a 10-20, 6-12 record and finished tied for seventh in the WCC regular season. This season, under first-year coach JR Payne, SCU was picked to finish in last place in the WCC regular season battle.

The Broncos are led by Nici Gilday who is averaging 19.4 points per game. Teammate Maria Bertholdt nearly scores in double digits, averaging 9.6 points and a team-best 8.1 rebounds a contest. Santa Clara scores 69.1 points, grabs 45.7 rebounds, while shooting 39.0 percent from the field, 29.1 percent from behind the arc and 71.0 percent at the free-throw line. 

• Head coach: JR Payne (St. Mary’s, 1999) First Season
• Team’s leading scorer: #12 N. Gilday, 19.4 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #15 M. Bertholdt, 8.1 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #21 R. Avila, 4.2 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #15 M. Bertholdt, 1.4 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #44 M. Allen, 2.0 bpg

Series History
BYU leads the series 8-1. In Provo, the Broncos are 0-4. Last season, the Cougars swept the series. Head Coach Jeff Judkins has a perfect 8-0 mark against Santa Clara.

Last Meeting
The two teams met twice last year, with the Cougars picking up a 61-44 win in Provo on Jan. 25 and an 87-80 overtime victory in Santa Clara on Feb. 6.

About SAN FRANCISCO
After playing two league games at home, San Francisco has a 9-4, 0-2 record with WCC losses to Pacific and Saint Mary’s. USF is at San Diego on Thursday before making the trip to Provo.

All five of San Francisco’s starters return this year. Last season, the team went 12-19, 6-12, finishing in sixth place in the conference regular season. The Dons were picked to finish sixth in this year’s league race.

The Dons have two players scoring in double figures with Taylor Proctor contributing 14.0 points and Zhane Dikes tallying 11.1 points per game. Proctor tops the list in the rebound category, pulling down 8.1 rebounds a contest. San Francisco scores 67.5 points a game, grabs 41.8 rebounds and shoots 39.5 percent from the field and 73.5 percent from the free-throw line.

• Head coach: Jennifer Azzi (Stanford, 1990) Fifth Season
• Team’s leading scorer: #32 T. Proctor, 14.0 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #32 T. Proctor, 8.1 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #1 Z. Dikes, 2.3 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #2 T. Winston, 2.4 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #32 T. Proctor and # 3 P. Spietz, 69 bpg

Series History
BYU leads the series 10-2. In Provo, the Dons are 1-5. Last season, the Cougars swept the series. Head Coach Jeff Judkins has a 7-2 record against San Francisco.

Last Meeting
The two teams met twice last year, with the Cougars picking up an 81-47 win in Provo on Jan. 23 and a 73-66 victory in San Francisco on Feb. 8.

Up Next
After hosting two conference foes, the Cougar women take to the road for their next games. BYU is at Loyola Marymount on Jan. 8 and at Pepperdine on Jan. 10.