MALIBU, California – Perfect 3-point shooting from Makenzi Morrison gave BYU women’s basketball the 84-78 edge over Pepperdine on the road on Saturday.

“I’m proud of these guys,” BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. “This team has done a great job of executing plays when we really need a basket. I think this team is very confident. They aren’t afraid of being down by 10 points. This game was great for Makenzi. She struggled with confidence early in the season, but then she went to the gym and worked on it.”

Morrison scored a career-high 25 points on 8 of 9 shooting, a BYU record 7 of 7 from beyond the arc. She also dished out three assists.

“I just shot like I normally do and it felt good,” Morrison said. “I really worked on trying to eliminate any extra movement. I also knew I had to be ready for the kick out because they were doubling Lexi and Morgan.”

Lexi Eaton led all scorers with 29 points, including 14 of 19 from the charity stripe. Morgan Bailey grabbed 14 rebounds and scored nine points. In her first start of the season, Xojian Harry had six points, three rebounds and three assists.

BYU (13-4, 5-1) scored its first points of the game off of free throws from Harry and Eaton. A three from Morrison gave the Cougars their first lead, 7-6 with 15:40 remaining in the first half. Pepperdine (6-10, 1-4) responded with tough defense and went on a 13-2 run to go up 19-9.

A 3-pointer from Alohi Robins-Hardy stopped the run and cut the Waves’ lead to 19-12 with 9:53 remaining in the half. The two teams traded points back and forth, neither able to make a run until Morrison nailed a jump shot to spark hot shooting for the Cougars.

In the last five minutes of the first half, BYU made five shots in five possessions in a row to tie the game at 31-31 after Morrison found Bailey down low for the quick layup. Kylie Maeda drove the ball and scored at the buzzer to put the Cougars up 33-31 at the half.

BYU’s hot shooting continued into the second half. Eaton’s first 3-pointer of the day pushed the lead to 41-35 with 17:28 left. The Cougars led 50-41, their largest lead up to that point, after Morrison hit another trey.

The Waves cut the lead to three points after a 6-0 run, but Bailey made free throws to push the lead back up. With 11:08 remaining in the game, Eaton grabbed a defensive rebound and drove it all the way to the basket for a quick layup to make it 55-49.

Pepperdine got within two until BYU went on a 6-0 run of its own to push it to 69-62 with 4:36 left. The Cougars had their largest lead of the night after Morrison made her sixth trey to make their lead 74-64.

Despite a late push by Pepperdine, BYU held on to the 84-78 win with free throw shooting by Eaton and Maeda.

The Cougars will return home on Jan. 15 to take on Pacific at 7 pm. MST. The game will be broadcast live on BYUtv and BYU Radio – Sirius XM 143. Live stats will be available on the BYU women’s basketball schedule page.

Postgame Notes

Team

After being down by 10 with 10 minutes left in the first half, the Cougars went on an 8-0 run to close out the half with a two-point, 33-31 on a buzzer-beater by Kylie Maeda. With the win, BYU improved its record to 10-0 when having an advantage at halftime.

BYU had 18 rebounds to Pepperdine’s 17 after the first 20 minutes of action. The Cougars would finish the game with 30 total rebounds. The Waves grabbed three more to finish outrebounding BYU, 33 to 30.

The Cougars dished out 10 assists in the first half, compared with eight for the Waves. BYU tallied 18 total assists in the game, while Pepperdine finished with 15.

For the game, the Cougars finished with 15 points off of Wave turnonvers.

Pepperdine had the advantage on fast break points 16 to 3 and in bench points, 31 to 7.

Player

Makenzi Morrison

Makenzi Morrison led the Cougars with eight points at halftime.

She recorded her eighth and second straight double digit outing in points with a career-best 25 points.

With the perfect 7 for 7 from behind the arc field goal percentage, she set the BYU single game record for 3-point field goal percentage. The previous record was held by Heather Cheesman, who she went 6 for 6 from 3-point range in a game vs. Air Force on Jan. 19, 2002.

Morgan Bailey

Morgan Bailey had a first-half best nine rebounds. She ended the contest with a game-high 14 boards along with nine points, four assists and one steal.

Lexi Eaton

Lexi Eaton went into the locker room with six points, three rebounds and one assist.

She picked up her 15th game scoring in double digits with a game-high 29 points.

The 29 points mark the seventh time on the year and the second straight that she’s had a game with 20-plus points.

Alohi Robins-Hardy

Alohi Robins-Hardy came off the bench, played nine minutes, scored five points and got two fouls in the first half.

Xojian Harry

Xojian Harry made her first start of the 2014-15 campaign, the 11th of her career in the road game at Pepperdine.

She tallied six points, three rebounds, and three assists in 37 minutes of action and went 2 for 2 from the free-throw line.

Kylie Maeda

Kylie Maeda dished out a team-best five assists, along with eight points, going 4 for 4 from the free-throw line while also grabbing one rebound.

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.