LOS ANGELES – Morgan Bailey’s seventh double-double of the year lead BYU women’s basketball to a 71-63 victory over Loyola Marymount on the road Thursday night.

"It was a great come back by our team, and we saw some really nice play from a lot of players tonight," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "This was a really good team effort to get the win. Makenzi did a great job defensively and she hit some big shots for us. Xojian came in the second half and really played well. Morgan had another solid performance, we just didn't do a good job in the first half of getting her the ball."

Bailey scored 22 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Cougars. Lexi Eaton added 20 points, 3 of 4 from beyond the arc. Makenzi Morrison had 14 points, shooting 4 of 4 from the charity stripe in the last minute of the game.  

BYU (12-4, 4-1) started off shooting the ball poorly, going 2 for 7 in the first seven minutes of the game. LMU (2-13, 0-4) took advantage of the off-shooting start and took the 16-5 lead with 12:51 remaining in the first half.

Bailey had a few good looks early on, but BYU had a hard time getting anything to fall. The Cougars held the Lions to a three minute scoring drought and forced three turnovers, but continued to shoot poorly.

Eaton drilled a 3-pointer to make it 13-24 which sparked the team. Bailey made a layup, the last bucket of the first half, with 30 seconds in the half to make the score 23-28 with LMU leading at halftime. The Cougars closed out the half on a 6-0 run, holding the Lions scoreless for the last three minutes.

BYU had a hot start to the second half, taking the 33-32 lead after a layup from Eaton. Another shot from Eaton sparked a 9-0 run for the Cougars to go up 42-34 with 14:20 remaining.

The Lions answered back by making a couple of shots from beyond the arc, tying the game up 48-48. A hook shot from Bailey took the lead back until another three from Makenzie Cast made LMU’s lead 51-50 with 10:41 left.

Three treys in a row from Morrison, Xojian Harry and Eaton gave BYU its first double-digit lead of the night, 61-51. After that run, the Cougars were held scoreless for four minutes until Bailey powered in for a layup with 4:43 remaining to push their lead back up to 63-56.

LMU kept it close towards the end, getting within three points with one minute left. Morrison sealed the game for BYU late, making four free throws and stealing the ball with 10 seconds remaining to keep the lead. 

The Cougars continue their road trip on Saturday against Pepperdine at 12 p.m. PST. The game will be broadcast live on BYU Radio - Sirius XM 143 and will have live stats available on the BYU women's basketball schedule page.

Postgame Notes

Team

BYU was down by five at the break, 28-21, but would go on to record its fourth league victory of the season, with an eight-point victory, 71-63 over LMU.

The Cougars had 19 rebounds to the Lions 17 after 20 minutes of action. BYU finished the league game outrebounding LMU 38 to 29, making the 10th time on the year that the Cougars had recorded more boards than their opponents.

BYU got 27 points off of LMU miscues and had eight second-chance points.

The Cougar bench scored 12 points compared with 11 points for the Lions bench players.

For just the third time on the season, the opponent has recorded more assists than BYU. The Lions dished out 23 to the Cougars 21 assists.

Player

Morgan Bailey

Morgan led the Cougars with eight points and nine rebounds at halftime. She finished the game with her seventh double-double of the year and second straight with 22 points and 16 rebounds.

The 22 points mark the sixth time on the season that she’s recorded a game with 20-plus points.

Both the points and rebounds were game highs.

Kylie Maeda

Kylie Maeda led the way in the assists category at the break with three. She went on to dish out a total of seven for the game.

The total assists were game highs.

Lexi Eaton

Lexi had seven points and two steals in the first half and ended the game with 20 points and three steals marking the 14th game this year that she’s finished with double-digit points.

The 20 points mark the sixth time on the season that Eaton has had a game with 20 points or more.

She also grabbed five rebounds and had three steals, which tied for team bests.

Makenzi Morrison

Makenzi Morrison picked up her seventh game this year tallying double digits in scoring. For the game, she had 14 points, including two free throws that gave BYU a five-point lead with just 25 seconds remaining in the contest.

She tied for team bests in steals with three, while grabbing two rebounds.

PROVO, Utah —With two week’s of league action completed, BYU women’s basketball has an 11-4, 3-1 record and is in a tie with San Diego for fourth place in the West Coast Conference standings.

The Cougar women take their three-game league win streak on the road this week, playing at LMU (2-12, 0-3) Thursday and at Pepperdine (6-8, 1-2) Saturday.

The Jan. 8 matchup against the Lions tips at 7 p.m. PST, while the Jan. 10 game on the Waves home court starts at noon, PST. Saturday’s game at Pepperdine can be heard live on BYU Radio on the internet and on satellite radio at Sirius XM 143.

About BYU
Lexi Eaton, a 5-foot-10 junior guard/forward combo, leads the Cougars in scoring, averaging 18.6 points per game. She ranks third in rebounds, pulling down 5.8 boards a contest. Morgan Bailey, a 6-foot-2 senior forward, is in second place in scoring, tallying 18.4 points while leading the way in rebounding, averaging 10.4 boards per game. The team’s assist leader is Kylie Maeda, who averages 4.1 assists a game.

Heading into the third week of conference play, the Cougars score 68.5 points per game, shoot 42.7 percent from the field, 68.1 percent at the free-throw line and 35.3 percent from 3-point land. In all but two game, (vs. USF and at Gonzaga), BYU has dished out more assists than its opponents, has recorded more rebounds in nine contests to date, has a 9-0 mark when leading at the break and has scored at least 80 points in three games. The team has also had three players score in double figures in five contests, (most recent vs. SCU) and has had four players finish with double digit points in two, (most recent vs. UNLV).

• Head coach: Jeff Judkins (Utah, ‘78) 14th season
• Team’s leading scorer: #21 L. Eaton, 18.6 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #41 M. Bailey, 10.3 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #15 K. Maeda, 4.1 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #23 M. Morrison, 1.3 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #41, M. Bailey, .47 bpg

About LMU
Loyola Marymount has a 2-12, 0-3 mark, having played all three league games on the road to date. They are tied with Portland for seventh place in the latest conference standings.

LMU returns eight letterwinners, including three starters from a team that went 9-21, 6-12 and a seventh place finish in last year’s WCC regular season.

Three players are tallying double digits in scoring for the Lions, led by 12.6 points from Taylor Anderson. She’s followed by Leslie Lopez-Wood, who contributes 11.9 points a contest. Rounding out the scoring threat for LMU is Emily Ben-Jumbo, who puts up 10.1 points a game. She, along with Anderson, tops the list in the rebound category, grabbing 6.9 boards each. LMU is averaging 68.7 points per game, while pulling down 37.3 rebounds. The team is shooting 38.6 percent from the field and 72.3 percent from the free-throw line. 

• Head coach: Charity Elliott (SW Missouri State, 1992) Third Season
• Team’s leading scorer: #21 T. Anderson, 12.6 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #21 T. Anderson and #15 E. Ben-Jumbo, 6.9 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #21 T. Anderson, 2.1 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #24 B. Alford, 1.3 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: # 21 T. Anderson, 1.0 bpg

Series History
BYU leads the series 8-1. In Los Angeles, the Cougars are 2-1. Last season, BYU swept the series with LMU. Head Coach Jeff Judkins has a 6-1 record against Loyola Marymount.

Last Meeting
In last year’s two games, the Cougars picked up a 90-72 win in Provo, on Dec. 28 and then recorded a 91-67 road victory on Feb. 22 in Los Angeles.

About PEPPERDINE
Pepperdine has compiled a 6-8, 1-2 record to date and hosts San Diego Thursday night before the Cougars make a stop in Malibu Saturday. The Waves picked up a home win over LMU and then dropped games at Saint Mary’s and at Pacific. Currently, they are in sixth place in the league standings entering this week’s action.

Pepperdine opened the 2014-15 season with a roster made up of six letterwinners and eight newcomers. Last season, under then first-year coach Ryan Weisenberg, the Waves compiled a 6-25, 1-17 record.

Bria Richardson (14.4 ppg), Keitra Wallace (12.8 ppg), and Allie Green (12.4 ppg) are the three Pepperdine players scoring in double digits. Wallace also tops the leaderboard in the rebound category, grabbing 5.5 boards a game. The Waves are averaging 64.2 points a game, while shooting 40.0 percent from the field, 29.5 from behind the arc and 75.2 percent from the free-throw line. 

• Head coach: Ryan Weisenberg (Cal Poly, 1997) 2nd Season
• Team’s leading scorer: #10 B. Richardson, 14.4 ppg
• Team’s leading rebounder: #51 K. Wallace, 5.5 rpg
• Team’s assists leader: #10 B. Richardson, 3.6 apg
• Team’s steals leader: #10 B. Richardson, 2.5 spg
• Team’s blocks leader: #44 K. Brockway and #24 K. Pettepier, .64 bpg

Series History
BYU leads the series 8-2. In Malibu, the Cougars have a 2-2 mark. Last season, BYU swept the series with Pepperdine. Head coach Jeff Judkins is 7-1 against the Waves.

Last Meeting
These two conference foes met three times last year, twice during the regular season race and then in the quarterfinals of the WCC championships.  In the first meeting, BYU won 65-50 in Provo on Dec. 30, and then in Malibu, the Cougars picked up an 89-75 victory on Feb. 20. Playing in the quarterfinals of the 2014 WCC championships, BYU and Pepperdine battled in one of four games on March 7 with the Cougars advancing in the tournament with a 77-51 win.

Up Next
After the two-game road trip, BYU returns home for its next three league matchups. The Cougars host Pacific and Saint Mary’s on Jan. 15 and Jan. 17. The following week, WCC foe San Diego comes to Provo on Jan. 24.